Genesis10 CEO Harley Lippman recently shared his insight into the IT job market in a Q&A article, Outsourcing Comes Back Home, in The Four Hundred, an IT Jungle publication.
Referring to a recent Genesis10 survey of executives, Lippman said that the industry is seeing a big change, with companies focusing on their onshore capabilities more. “Forty-five percent of companies are looking to get talent onshore, while only 11% are looking offshore.”
Lippman outlined the risks of offshoring companies now need to manage, and presented reasons why they are now considering onshoring, or domestic outsourcing. One is the shortage of IT talent.
“I do not remember any time in my life when there was such a huge shortage of people with IT knowledge,” Lippman said. “By doing domestic outsourcing, you can diversify your workforce and minimize risk if, for instance, you have work done through a domestic outsourcing provider supplying staff to you through six different locations.”
In the article, Lippman also addressed training. “Companies are struggling, particularly with the cost pressure…and consequently, training has gone by the wayside. So now, companies with the IBM i platform, for instance, are really in a pickle. That is why they are trying to get Millennials interested in the platform and do Agile programming, too.”
“But the atmosphere for training is so much harsher than it was in the past, and IT managers have a really hard time getting funding,” he added. “We hear that it is slow going, and precisely why they are reaching out to companies like Genesis10 that trains Millennials to work on IBM i and we also help them with the Agile methodology.”
The Four Hundred is the industry's first subscription-based monthly newsletter devoted exclusively to the IBM AS/400 minicomputer, established in 1989.
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Harley serves on the boards and advisory councils of organizations including Yale University’s School of Management, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, the Brookings Institution, The Washington Institute and the Middle East Forum. He also serves on the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Partnership for Peace Advisory Board and previously served on the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad through presidential appointment and Senate confirmation.
A committed philanthropist, Harley supports an orphanage in Cambodia and has led efforts to identify and memorialize unmarked Holocaust mass graves in Eastern Europe. His documentary, Safeguarding Memory, aired on PBS and received multiple awards for its impact and storytelling.