Doomed

[SimonMac]

All depends on what you class as a "senior professional"?

I would class Tech Architect, Solutions Architect, Release Manager, Lead Designers all as senior professionals but not Managers, its a vague definition. There will always be a need for people to actually do the work, they will just be called middle managers in any other organisation.

[darrenb]

But if we import indians to do the managing won't that balance out. They can sit in the corner and manage each other and the contractors can get on with the work.

... for a hundred rupees an hour, the way things are going. Bit of a reversal. But in line with recent newspaper articles suggesting that the UK is turning into a "developing nation". (When this happens in reverse it should be called "undeveloping nation" or "wheels-coming-off nation" but anyway.)

[Mich the Tester]

The trouble is heirarchy. The craftsperson is seen as the bottom rung, not something to aspire too, and that affords a lack of respect and income, unless one goes a contracting.

That's changing; market forces at work. But it'll change slowly; big companies have a lot of inertia, and even more useless managermen.

[doodab]

The trouble is heirarchy. The craftsperson is seen as the bottom rung, not something to aspire too, and that affords a lack of respect and income, unless one goes a contracting.

[Mich the Tester]

Given that the manager / wannabee manager / techie ratio on my current project is approx 8:4:2 this does not bode well.

Right now, on any contractors or jobs site in NL that shows the number of responses, you'll see that for management roles there are often 30 or 40 responses. For tech roles, it's usually between 0 and 5. Now I know, this isn't a representative sample or a particularly scientific approach, but when you add this to the fact that universities and colleges have been producing thousands upon thousands of 'business studies' and 'international marketing management' graduates and MBAs are now ten a penny, I think the management bubble is bursting and the 'IT manager' of the future will be a lacky running around arranging basic stuff like coffee machines and an extra server here and there for self-managing agile teams of techies. Any article that encourages even more yoof down the road of becoming managermen will simply result in less competition for us.

Let's get this absolutely clear; THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF PEOPLE TRAINED TO BE MANAGERS. THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF PEOPLE WITH GOOD TECHNICAL SKILLS, AND AN EVEN GREATER SHORTAGE OF PEOPLE WITH GOOD TECHNICAL SKILLS WHO CAN 'MANAGE' OR LEAD.

[doodab]

This has been the hope and strategy of the UK (as well as the US) for the past 30 years I guess: to turn into a country of managers. Who's left to manage? Well, developing nations. But why are they called developing? Because they're developing their own economies, including their own waffling managers and entrepreneurs to usurp the BS. What is left then for the West? It will be a case of:

Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

But if we import indians to do the managing won't that balance out. They can sit in the corner and manage each other and the contractors can get on with the work.

[vetran]

I love the smell of vacancies in the morning, ...................

Smelled like … ICTs.

[darrenb]

This has been the hope and strategy of the UK (as well as the US) for the past 30 years I guess: to turn into a country of managers. Who's left to manage? Well, developing nations. But why are they called developing? Because they're developing their own economies, including their own waffling managers and entrepreneurs to usurp the BS. What is left then for the West? It will be a case of:

Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

[TestMangler]

I know what you mean, I have worked under Technical Managers who had no idea of what she was doing. Made me laugh, at one stage arguing with the Spatial DBA's that GIS meant Graphical Information Systems, and not Geographical...

Sheesh, some managers must have slept their way into lots of positions, I know this one did...

Was that not a bit of a clue, just there ?

[Old Hack]

I know what you mean, I have worked under Technical Managers who had no idea of what she was doing. Made me laugh, at one stage arguing with the Spatial DBA's that GIS meant Graphical Information Systems, and not Geographical...

Sheesh, some managers must have slept their way into lots of positions, I know this one did...

[Gentile]

Ah sorry, twas on the front page of CUK.

UK IT needs 129,000 newbies a year until 2020 :: Contractor UK

I find it hard to believe the UK needs an additional 99,160 IT managers a year for 8 years (that's more than 3/4 of a million) and the idea that 86,430 of them per year will be seems frankly dangerous.

Ah, thank you. It doesn't seem to add up, does it?; that there would be a need for more managers than people to be managed? Having said that, I've worked in some places large and small where everybody seemed to be Director of Printing, VP Maker of Tea or some other such pretentious title that mysteriously didn't have any actual responsibility or involve actually managing any other person.

[doodab]

You're gonna have to give us some context here, doodab. If this is an article from the BBC it's going to be a different set of responses you'll get to if it's just some graffiti you've copied off of the ClientCo's toilet wall, old chap.

Ah sorry, twas on the front page of CUK.

UK IT needs 129,000 newbies a year until 2020 :: Contractor UK

I find it hard to believe the UK needs an additional 99,160 IT managers a year for 8 years (that's more than 3/4 of a million) and the idea that 86,430 of them per year will be

people moving into the IT/Telecoms space from an unrelated occupation, or from education, or from some other type of “inactive” status (such as a carer).

seems frankly dangerous.

[Old Hack]

Just have to build up to senior professional then. 20 odd years should do it, in your mid forties.

Laughing. Or be niche.

[Gentile]

You're gonna have to give us some context here, doodab. If this is an article from the BBC it's going to be a different set of responses you'll get to if it's just some graffiti you've copied off of the ClientCo's toilet wall, old chap.

[doodab]

More specifically, 67% of the available IT jobs will be for managerial/senior professionals, including software experts but mainly ICT managers and IT strategists/planners; 17% will be for technicians (operations, support), 8% will be for skilled tradesmen (telecoms/computer engineers). The remaining 8% of IT jobs will be for administrative techies, such as database assistants.

Given that the manager / wannabee manager / techie ratio on my current project is approx 8:4:2 this does not bode well.