Nearly 300,000 global back-officeIT jobswill have been lost in 2009 by the end of the
year.
The Hackett Group estimates that nearly two million IT jobs will
have been cut in North America and Europe between 2000 and 2014 as
companies make efficiency improvements.
The group analysed 4,000 global companies in North America and
Europe with over $1bn in revenue. It found that jobs were cut in
all back-office industries - HR, finance and procurement - but IT
suffered most.
By 2014, the prediction is that 1.9 million IT jobs will have
been lost globally. This is compared with 0.8 million finance jobs,
0.5 million procurement jobs, and 0.25 million HR jobs.
Efficiency savings from automation, process improvement,
outsourcing and offshoring have led to annual savings of $333bn for
the companies analysed. But the savings have partly come from job
cuts, with 1.4 millions jobs going in total.
The problems could be set to continue for staff in western
countries, as much of companies' future growth is expected to
materialise in developing markets such as Brazil, China, India and
Russia.
Western economies will see a rise in specific specialist and
analytical roles by 2014, but this boost will not offset the drop
in clerical and transaction positions during the same period.