Who Is an IT Pro?

Are there 4 million IT professionals or more than 10 million in the United States? Both. It just depends who's defining an IT pro.

In an article I wrote four years ago titled The New Math: Seeking The IT Workforce's True Size, I noted the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Information Technology Association of America used different methods to define an IT worker. At the time, the government pegged IT employment at 3.3 million and the ITAA at 10.4 million. The numbers may have changed a bit, but the rationale in determing those stats haven't.

Here's what I wrote in 2004, which holds true today:

The answer can be found at Liquid Pictures, a four-employee company that creates computer-generated animations. Owner Zachary Rymland turns to senior animator Piyatida Shiozaki when he needs extra aesthetics in an animation. Shiozaki, with a master's degree in computer arts, doesn't think of herself as a technologist. Senior animator Jeffrey Reynolds is the resident techie, a math whiz who customizes and automates processes to generate a complex animation.

Are they artists or IT pros? The Labor Department likely says they're artists; ITAA, technology workers. Shiozaki and Reynolds are the 7.2 million gap.

But Shiozaki and Reynolds reflect what's truly happening in today's workforce. A convergence in the workplace is occurring where more and more jobs require a higher level of tech- and business-savvy.