"This article assesses the employment situation in the U.S. information technology (IT) industry, examining recent job growth trends and the underlying factors, such as flexible staffing arrangements and offshore outsourcing, which are responsible for falling IT employment. The IT industry, which was at the center of the 1990s boom, was caught in the midst of the 2001 recession and the ensuing jobless recovery. Employment has fallen dramatically between March 2001 and March 2004 and the IT industry lost approximately 403,000 jobs, more than half of which were eliminated during the economic recovery. While cyclical factors are partially responsible for these employment declines, underlying weaknesses in IT labor markets remain as U.S. corporations continue to pursue restructuring tactics aimed at achieving immediate reductions in labor costs."

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