IT Layoffs Create Large Talent Pool

Doug Rivard, COO of Tallan, Glastonbury, Conn., said his company is hiring for the first time in two years. Tallan is looking specifically for developers with Java and data-warehousing skills and exposure to Microsoft's .Net, he said.

"There's a great opportunity to hire or upgrade right now," Rivard said. "I don't need to bring in 10 people, but if I could bring in two or three with great skill sets, I'd hire them in a second."

U.S. companies shed about 500,000 IT workers in the past year, according to "Bouncing Back: Job Skills and the Continuing Demand for IT Workers," a study published this month by the Information Technology Association of America.

Demand for IT workers will increase, the study found. Hiring managers told ITAA they intend to fill more than 1 million jobs in the coming year. A listing of 30,000 technical jobs on ITAA's job board reveals C++ programming language is the technical skill most in demand, followed by savvy in Oracle, SQL, Java and Windows NT technologies.

Ferit Albukrek, director of technology at New York-based Razorfish, said although his company is selectively hiring,particularly people with skills related to its new focus on enterprise portal work,market conditions have forced it to better use existing staff.

While public companies such as Razorfish, Sapient and Lante refocus their reduced employee base, private firms such as NerveWire and McFadyen Consulting are boosting their staffs. Vienna, Va.-based McFadyen Consulting's 35-person workforce has carved a niche through work with vendors Art Technology Group and Interwoven.

Of five people recently hired, one is a high-level Interwoven specialist laid off not long ago, said Tom McFadyen, president of the solution provider.