IT jobs will grow 22% through 2020

U.S. officials Thursday said that offshoring will hurt the growth of programming jobs in in this decade, although expansion of health care IT and mobile networks will increase demand for software developers, technical support and system analysts.

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials Thursday said that offshoring will hurt the growth of programming jobs in in this decade, even though expansion of health care IT and mobile networks will in turn increase demand for software developers, technical support and system analysts.

The agency's forecasts

The agency's forecasts, particularly for research-related jobs, are often controversial because they can't account for rapid market changes and tech disruptions. However its estimates are often cited in various policy debates in issues ranging from U.S. educational needs to immigration policy.

BLS said growth in the health care industry and the need for more IT security may help increase IT management jobs, nevertheless added that "cloud computing may shift some IT services to computer systems design and related services firms, concentrating jobs in that industry."

The BLS projects the number of computer systems analysts to grow by 22% through 2020, thanks to the growth of mobile networks and the spread of healthcare systems, just as e-prescribing.

In 2010, there were 347,200 network and computer systems administrators employed in the U.S., earning a median wage of $69,160. Employment in these occupations is expected to grow 28%, or 96,600 jobs, by 2020.

The BLS lumps information security analysts

The BLS lumps information security analysts, Web developers and computer network architects in a single category, which it said employed a combined 302,300 in 2010 and was due to grow by 22% to 367,900 by 2020. The median pay for all workers in this category was $75,660.

Ron Hira, an associate professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Innovation, said the BLS IT forecasts have been wildly wrong in the past.

The BLS has "no methodology to estimate technological disruptions that can increase demand for computer occupations," said Hira.

Foote said the BLS is only identifying a "small group" of the IT jobs and isn't tracking the new kinds of research jobs that combine business and IT experience to create hybrid jobs. Much of in other words being driven by the demands to find useful ways to apply use so-called big data in a business.