African-American IT workers lose ground

There are good signs and bad ones for African-American IT workers. The number of African-Americans in the IT workforce rose by more than 10 percent in 2007. But their percentage in the overall IT workforce was lower than it was at the beginning of the decade, when the Internet boom was just starting. Just take a look at the numbers: African-American IT employment peaked in 2001 at 296,000. And last year, the number was 267,000, representing seven percent of employed business-technology workers, according to a CIO Insight analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Employment among African-American IT professionals rose by 10.3 percent in 2007, reaching levels not seen since the Internet boom. Still, the percentage of African-Americans among all employed IT workers is lower than it was at the beginning of the decade. African Americans held 267,000 IT managerial and staff jobs in the United States last year, representing 7.1 percent of employed business-technology pros, according to the data. African-American IT employment peaked in 2001 at 296,000. That's nearly 9.8 percent, or 29,000 jobs, higher than last year's employment statistic. IT employment among African-Americans reached a decade low of 229,000 in 2002, the year following the 2001 recession and the dot-com bubble burst.

To compare these employment numbers with others, take a look at the number of IT workers with Asian ancestry. Asians represented 17 percent of employed IT workers. And their numbers were 638,000 in 2007. At the beginning of the 21st century, Asians were 12.4 percent of employed IT managers and workers. Meanwhile, the proportion of white IT pros has been decreasing since 2002 and was 74.3 percent of the workforce n 2007.

So what is the reason for this demographic change? Gina Billings, president of the National Black Data Processing Association blames globalization, which sent plenty of U.S. IT jobs overseas. As workers were laid off, she said, African-Americans, who proportionally joined the profession later than other professionals, were often the last hired and first fired as the workforce readjusted its needs for the 21st century.

Does this mean your job is in jeopardy? Probably not. But as we look at changes in the workforce, it's important to remember that plenty of outsourcing is coming home if it doesn't work, and that some companies are deciding that the risk isn't worth taking. However, this is still a time of plenty of changes, as the global market takes hold and continues to compete with the U.S. economy.

For more on workforce demographics:
- See this CIOInsight article