It's official: IT jobs shrinking

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported something apparent to many in the IT community: The economic downturn is taking a toll and jobs are being lost.

"Employment in the information industry declined by 13,000 in July and by 44,000 over the past 12 months. Telecommunications lost 5,000 jobs in July," according to the bureau.

Infoworld.com points out that the new data reinforces a recent survey of top CIOs who indicated that they will be reducing their IT staffs in the coming year. M. Victor Janulaitis, CEO at IT staffing research firm Janco Associates, said the IT employment trend for the last 18 months indicates a slow decay in demand for IT professionals. This stems from cost-containment efforts, a general lack of must-have new technology except Web 2.0, outsourcing and other factors.

For more on jobs:
- see this InfoWorld.com article