Info Technology Companies Struggle to Find Skilled Workers, Research Finds

The business climate for information and communications technology (ICT) owners and managers in the Fresno area is actually worse in 2004 than it was in 2001, notes a recent research study.

Dr. James Henson, an associate professor of information systems in the Craig School of Business at Fresno State, said the intent of the study was to explore those areas that presented problems or obstacles for an ICT business within the study region.

The results of the research could then concentrate attention and corrective action on those issues that are serious or adverse enough to cause a business to consider relocating. When asked about several potential issues, the executives of ICT companies classified those concerns with responses that ranged from “not a problem” to “serious: could cause the company to relocate,” which would be considered a very serious problem.

Henson said the three most problematic areas of the business climate that were rated as serious or very serious according to the responses received in the study are:

Availability of a trained workforce (increased from 20 percent in 2001 to 27 percent in 2004)
Energy costs and reliability (increased from 6 percent to 16 percent)
K through 12 Education (steady at 15 percent in both years)

“Several of the issues worsened from 2001 to 2004 as more ICT companies continue to cite a skilled workforce as a key problem. In terms of the ICT industry, the economic climate is not improving, and in many areas, is actually getting worse,” Henson said.

Three of the least problematic components of the business climate cited in the study expressed as the percentage of executives who rated them as “not a problem” were ground transportation (steady at 96 percent); affordable residential housing (declined from 95 percent to 88 percent); and the process for obtaining permits locally (declined from 93 percent to 85 percent).

Henson said Dun & Bradstreet provided a list of 1,003 businesses reporting classification codes that indicate the company had its primary function in the ICT industry. In addition, the list was filtered for companies having a specific telephone area code (559) as a geographic selection criterion for the study region, which encompasses the greater Fresno area of California’s San Joaquin Valley.

For more information, contact Henson at 347.0600 or 278.2918.