According to a Crain's NY article posted yesterday, Farrokh Hormozi, a Pace University Economics professor, released his Pace/SkillProof IT Index Report essentially saying the number of job openings fell "just 4.5%" for Q1-09, as compared to 50% for Q4-08. Seems like there are a few rays of sunshine breaking thru the passing storm clouds. I personally have begun to notice a small - I'll repeat that, SMALL - uptick in certain initiatives being approved, and the need for additional resources/consultants to get these projects underway.
However, we can't ignore the global slowdown, and its ramifications... just a few days prior, The NY Times posted an article with a truly scary picture of 735 ships just sitting in the strait between Singapore and Indonesia. The trade industry has obviously taken a hit, and with retail slowing down to a literal crawl, many experts don't see this rebounding anytime soon. Hard to argue, since I don't envision folks going over the top this coming Christmas season.
Between the 2 articles, what I can discern is that we will see snippets of improving sectors, and that this will be slow-going. From my past experience, the rule has been the financial industry takes the first hit; however, they are the first to bubble up in a rebounding economy. And we are seeing this starting with a number of our clients. Let's hope Professor Farrokh can deliver more good news in his next report ~
Comments