The IT Talent "Crisis"

This article addresses the shortage of information technology (IT) talent in the U.S. as of May 2005. According to a recent survey from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, the number of freshmen indicating that they plan to major in computer science declined by more than 60 percent between 2000 and 2004. Industry luminaries such as Bill Gates are pushing the U.S. government to lift limits on H1-B visas to meet the perceived shortage of IT talent in the U.S. Perhaps the stated lack of interest in computer science degrees among freshmen has nothing to do with interest in IT and is more reflective of aggressive self-teaching, an approach to lifelong learning that seems to be essential to career success as an IT professional.