Controversy was recently courted as Southern California Edison (SCE) prepares to cut their own staff while looking to meet their staffing needs with offshore employees skilled in the field of “IT” or Informational Technology. This has been the second major utility company in the United States to take this path towards providing services to its consumers while holding current rates at consistent levels. SCE does not disclose the exact numbers of expected lay-offs, but the LA Times reports that it is in the hundreds.  Utility companies tell their consumers that these moves are necessary as a hedge against inflation and to keep their services at rates that their customers can easily afford. Critics claim that the use of foreign workers is the first step to using an entirely foreign workforce and promoting large scale unemployment amongst American citizens. Often this has been seen as a conflict between national and international workers for the same jobs, salaries and careers.

It has been noted that this State of California utility company, much like other corporations that hire foreign workers does so primarily when there is a shortage of national citizens that can perform these jobs well. IT workers that are brought in with H-1B Visa work permits usually are college educated and hold expertise in technical areas and studies that local employees may not be especially trained in. Once again, critics decry the fact that these employees are not hired directly. On shore contracting companies operating in the continental United States are directly hired by the utility companies. These contracted companies then serve as “middle-men” and hire a wide range of foreign workers with H-1B paperwork so that they can move to the United States. The workers then perform a variety of jobs instead of American workers who were either born in the country or have achieved American citizenship on their own.

Needless to say, the amount of visas issued in a given year is a concern for U.S workers in various fields but particularly in Information Technology. As large corporations stack the employment deck with foreign workers who put in the hours for a fraction of the pay-rate for local employees, local IT professionals are finding it more difficult to find work nationally.  They encounter rejections, endless interview processes or low –ball offers from companies and recruiting agencies looking to fill positions at a bare minimum cost for coveted skill-sets.  

Meanwhile, an H-1B worker is a worker brought in on a temporary basis with a visa allowing them to work freely in the United States. Much like a student or travel visa, it is issued for on a calendar oriented basis.  Applicants who successfully renew the visa for an extended period of time can expect to work in the United States for up to ten years.  Although U.S companies hiring these employees may pay them less than their local employees, the salaries earned by H-1B Visa workers are almost always higher than these workers would earn in their own country of origin.

Both sides can agree on several issues. When it comes to these H-1B Visa workers, their assignments are generally of a contractual nature and require them to reside in this country for a period of months to years. However it is also an accepted fact that while they are in this country, they are responsible for paying rent, utilities and all other living expenses. As residents of the United States on a permanent basis, they are also liable for taxes on any salary they have earned while living here.

Dr. Norman Matloff, a professor at the University of California, Davis and writer on political matters believes the shortage to be fiction. In his writing for the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, he claims that “there has been no shortage of qualified American citizens to fill American computer-related jobs, and that the data offered as evidence of American corporations needing H-1B visas to address labor shortages was erroneous. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) agrees with him and describes the situation as a crisis. Likewise, other studies from Duke, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Georgetown University have disputed that in some years, the number of foreign programmers and engineers imported outnumbered the number of jobs created by the industry

IT jobs are without a doubt some of the highest paying jobs with information architects, data-security analysts and UX designers taking home $100,000 or more a year. But then again, these are high demand; high expertise jobs so don’t jump with joy as yet. But like every job and IT industry to be specific, not everyone commands such higher salaries. There are a large number of IT professionals who at some point of their career feel that their salaries have hit a standstill. Even if you are an IT professional and a great one at that, your technical expertise alone may not help you exceed the IT earning barrier. To continuously exceed your salaries, you need to work hard and smart. Here is how you can exceed the earning barrier in IT.

·         Gain Business Knowledge and Move Up The Management Ladder: IT departments for the most part are considered a part of “back office” operations. What this means is that despite being a core part of the business, IT professionals do not often get enough say in revenue generating components of the business and as a result seldom have a chance to take up senior management roles.  So if you do not want to stay content with a project manager or senior project management salary, invest time and money in gaining business knowledge. It could be through a formal business degree, online training courses or just by keeping your eyes and ears open while in the organization. Having the technical experience with business knowledge will instantly make you stand apart and open the doors for you to draw senior management salaries. For example, a survey conducted highlighted that CIOs were the biggest salary winners which clearly demonstrates the value of technical and business knowledge

·         Gain expertise on the “Hot” Technologies and Keep Learning: Say you are an expert in Java and draw a respectable salary in the industry. However, someone with less years of experience than you joins the organization and draws a higher salary than you! Why you ask. It could very well be because he/she is an expert in say big data technology such as Hadoop. Information Technology is one of the most dynamic industries with new technologies and languages coming up every now and then. When a new technology comes to the foray and gains traction, there is an instant demand-supply gap created which means that those with the specific skill sets are in a position to demand high salaries. If you have to break the IT earning barrier, always be ready to reinvent yourself by learning new technologies and this way you will be well positioned to jump on the high paying opportunities in the IT industry

·         Work On Your Own Side Projects: This one might seem controversial but let me clarify that I do not mean doing freelance work because even though your organization may never find out, it is ethically in breach of contract with your contract. If you have been lucky enough to be trained in some web based technologies such as Java, .NET or even HTML etc. spare sometime after office to build your own side projects. They could be very small projects tackling some problem that only you might have but there are multiple benefits of developing side projects. Worst case scenario, you will improve your technical skills. On the up side, you might end up creating your own business. A lot of technology start-ups were actually side projects the founders tinkered on with while they were employed full-time. You may not always succeed but there is no downside to the same

The future looks just as bright for information technology as it did ten years ago when this career field started growing in huge numbers due to major internet technological advances and the popularity of mobile devices such as the smartphone and eReaders like Amazon’s Kindle.  In classrooms and libraries across the nation, information technology has become instrumental in the way students learn and the way teachers give lessons, and thanks to online education more adults have access to a better education without incurring a lot of debt. Needles to say, the need for qualified workers in information technology will continue in times to come. Some of the technological careers that are rapidly growing in popularity in the last decade are a direct reflection of current trends.

Information Technology Managers

The information technology manager is responsible for handling all computer activities for a business and performs upgrades on computer software and hardware, installs new security features on computers, creates budgets and goals for the IT department, supervises other IT employees and troubleshoots computers when needed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 332,700 information technology management jobs filled in 2012 and a majority of these positions were in the computer systems sector. Most information technology managers hold a bachelor's degree in computer science or information technology, and a growing number of employers prefer a graduate degree. The job growth is expected to grow at 15% between now and 2022.

Mobile Application Developers

This job will grow by leaps and bounds as millions of people continue to purchase mobile devices and download apps for business and entertainment purposes. It creates expanded opportunities for those who want to become mobile application developers. A mobile application developer often works with other developers to create mobile-friendly apps or mobile-friendly versions of business websites for consumers. The developer may have his own firm or he may be employed with a larger company, and he will need to understand the basics of web design and different kinds of codes to succeed in this career. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the job growth is expected to be at 28% by 2020.

Health Information Technology

Another fast growing sector within information technology is health information technology and there are various jobs to choose from. You can work with health insurance providers and your duties would include processing patients' insurance claims and managing patients' insurance information using a computer database. Another option is to work as a medical biller in a doctor's office preparing patient’s invoices. The good thing about these jobs is that you do not need a four-year degree to get the training; you can obtain a two-year associates degree or a certificate in health information technology.

Search Engine Optimization Consultant

This is an important information technology career because most businesses have websites and if these websites are going to receive high traffic from visitors and earn profit, proper search engine optimization is necessary. The SEO consultant's job is to ensure that a business website gets high rankings on the major search engines and plenty of traffic from visitors. A good SEO consultant at a minimum will know how to research keywords effectively and implement these into the website's content based on the website's theme and he would utilize web analytics as part of the job. An SEO consultant may work on a freelance basis or be employed with an advertising company as an example.

Best Cities for Technology Careers

If you're thinking about relocating for your career, here are some of the best cities currently for information technology jobs listed in Forbes. 

Voice recordings are useful at any point in time. If you want to save a lecture (or presentation) that you are attending, or record a voiceover for a project, the iPhone can be your solution. You don’t have to use an old tape recorder, or a standalone recorder. The iPhone’s fantastic technology records high quality voice recordings on demand, whenever you need it.

To get started, look for an application named “Voice Memos.” Most likely, this particular application is found in your Utilities category by default. Once you open it up, you are greeted by a large microphone, indicating you are in the correct application. When you want to start recording, simply tap on the large red button in the bottom left, and you are on your way to begin recording. What is important about recording voices on this application to the highest degree of quality, ensure that your meter in the bottom is within the middle range; with the pointer in the red zone, your recording will be awfully loud, while otherwise, it will be too quiet. Finished recording? Simply tap on the square button, and you have your recording.

What can you do with these recordings? Once you have finished recording, you are able to now share this recording through email or even in a text message; email it to yourself so you can save it on your computer, and listen to it later, or start editing it to put into a movie production, or text it to a friend for their needs.