Information Technology Workers: Employment and Starting Salaries
(Correspondence, 05/12/98, GAO/HEHS-98-159R).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on recent
trends in information technology (IT) employment and starting salaries
for IT jobs, focusing on the: (1) unemployment rates for workers in IT
occupations; (2) number of workers employed in IT industries and
occupations; (3) number of degrees awarded in IT fields of study; and
(4) starting salaries offered bachelor's degree candidates in IT jobs.

GAO noted that: (1) unemployment rates for workers in IT occupations are
well below those for all workers; (2) at 1.3 percent in 1997, the rate
was less than one-third the rate for all workers; (3) employment in IT
industries has grown steadily, as has employment of workers in IT
occupations, which has nearly doubled in the last decade to about 1.9
million in 1997; (4) despite employment increases averaging 90,000 jobs
a year in IT occupations, the number of degrees awarded in IT fields of
study has remained fairly constant throughout the 1990s at about 48,000
annually--of which about 27,000 were bachelor's degrees; and (5) salary
offers for bachelor's degree candidates in IT fields averaged about
$37,500 in 1997--slightly higher than the salaries offered in 1989,
after adjusting for inflation, and above the salaries offered in the
early 1990s when starting salaries dipped to under $35,000.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  HEHS-98-159R
     TITLE:  Information Technology Workers: Employment and Starting 
             Salaries
      DATE:  05/12/98
   SUBJECT:  Unemployment rates
             Information technology
             Statistical data
             Labor force
             Economic analysis
             Labor supply
             Labor statistics
             Education or training
             Compensation
             Wage surveys

             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Report to Congressional Requesters

May 1998

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WORKERS -
EMPLOYMENT AND STARTING SALARIES

GAO/HEHS-98-159R

Information Technology Employment

(205372)


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  BLS - Bureau of Labor Statistics
  CES - Current Employment Statistics
  CPS - Current Population Survey
  IPEDS - Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
  IT - information technology
  ITAA - Information Technology Association of America
  NACE - National Association of Colleges and Employers
  NCES - National Center for Education Statistics
  SIC - Standard Industry Classification

Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-279910

May 12, 1998

The Honorable John D.  Dingell
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Commerce
House of Representatives

The Honorable George E.  Brown, Jr.
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Science
House of Representatives

Subject:  Information Technology Workers:  Employment and Starting
Salaries

Industry reports and various newspaper and magazine articles predict
that severe shortages of information technology (IT) workers could
have a crippling effect on the growth of the economy.  In conjunction
with cosponsoring a convocation on the supply of IT workers, the U.S. 
Department of Commerce prepared a report intended to bring attention
to the issue and to encourage stakeholders to examine the potential
for shortages and to take the necessary steps to ensure an adequate
supply of IT workers.  That report, issued September 29, 1997, is
titled America's New Deficit:  The Shortage of Information Technology
Workers.\1 Our evaluation of the report found that, although the
title implied that the Department of Commerce found a shortage of IT
workers, data and analysis contained in the report did not support
that conclusion.\2 In fact, the report concludes, and we agree, that
more information and data are needed to characterize the IT labor
market. 

To better understand IT labor market conditions, you asked that we
provide you with information on recent trends in IT employment and
starting salaries for IT jobs.  Specifically, you asked us to
determine (1) the unemployment rates for workers in IT occupations,
(2) the number of workers employed in IT industries and occupations,
(3) the number of degrees awarded in IT fields of study, and (4) the
starting salaries offered bachelor's degree candidates in IT jobs. 

To answer these questions, we gathered information from three
sources.  Information on unemployment rates for IT workers and
numbers of workers employed in IT occupations came from the Current
Population Survey (CPS) of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  The
number of workers employed by IT companies comes from the Current
Employment Statistics (CES) Survey and is compiled by BLS from
payroll records reported monthly.  Information on the number and
types of IT degrees conferred came from the Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES).  Information on the salaries offered to bachelor's
degree candidates was provided by the National Association of
Colleges and Employers (NACE).  Although we did not independently
verify the data, data from these sources are widely used and
represent the best data available.  Our data sources are described in
more detail in enclosure I.  We performed our work in April 1998 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

In summary, unemployment rates for workers in IT occupations are well
below those for all workers.  At 1.3 percent in 1997, the rate was
less than one-third the rate for all workers.  Employment in IT
industries has grown steadily, as has employment of workers in IT
occupations, which has nearly doubled in the last decade to about 1.9
million in 1997.  Despite employment increases averaging 90,000 jobs
a year in IT occupations, the number of degrees awarded in IT fields
of study has remained fairly constant throughout the 1990s at about
48,000 annually--of which about 27,000 were bachelor's degrees. 
Salary offers for bachelor's degree candidates in IT fields averaged
about $37,500 in 1997--slightly higher than the salaries offered in
1989, after adjusting for inflation, and above the salaries offered
in the early 1990s, when starting salaries dipped to under $35,000. 


--------------------
\1 Washington, D.C.:  Department of Commerce, Office of Technology
Policy. 

\2 Information Technology:  Assessment of the Department of
Commerce's Report on Workforce Demand and Supply (GAO/HEHS-98-106R,
Mar.  20, 1998). 


   BACKGROUND
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1

Public attention became focused on issues relating to the IT labor
market with the publication of a report by the Information Technology
Association of America (ITAA) entitled Help Wanted:  The IT Workforce
Gap at the Dawn of a New Century in February 1997.\3 Responding to
this report, the National Economic Council and the Departments of
Commerce, Education, and Labor began to discuss the workforce
requirements of the IT sector.  The Department of Commerce's Office
of Technology Policy was assigned the lead federal role in exploring
the IT worker issue.  The mission of the Office of Technology Policy
is to work in partnership with the private sector to develop and
advocate national policies that maximize technology's contribution to
U.S.  economic growth, the creation of high-wage jobs, and
improvements in our quality of life.  The Department of Commerce's
report, America's New Deficit:  The Shortage of Information
Technology Workers, examined the potential for shortages of IT
workers. 

BLS estimates, on the basis of surveys conducted for the Occupational
Employment Statistics program and the CPS, that between 1996 and 2006
the United States will require about 1.3 million additional IT
workers as a result of job growth and the replacement of workers who
leave the field.  Although there is no single, universally accepted
definition of the occupations that should be designated as IT
occupations, we used the occupations for which BLS collects
data--computer programmers, systems analysts, computer scientists,
and computer engineers\4 --and the widely used IT industry
definition--Standard Industry Classification (SIC) 737, computer and
data processing services.\5


--------------------
\3 Arlington, Va.:  ITAA. 

\4 BLS descriptions of these occupations follow:  (1) computer
programmers write and maintain the detailed instructions, called
"programs" or "software," that list in logical order the steps that
computers must execute to perform their functions; (2) systems
analysts use their knowledge and skills in a problem-solving
capacity, implementing the means for computer technology to meet the
individual needs of an organization; (3) computer scientists
generally design computers and conduct research to improve their
design or use and develop and adapt principles for applying computers
to new uses; and (4) computer engineers work with the hardware and
software aspects of systems design and development. 

\5 BLS describes this industry as providing everything related to
commercial computer use, from renting and repairing personal
computers to designing or installing an entire system; from
developing packaged software to writing customized programs; from
integrating and reengineering systems to networking and data
processing; from managing data bases to operating an entire computer
facility. 


   UNEMPLOYMENT RATES FOR IT
   WORKERS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2

Unemployment rates for IT workers are well below the national average
for all workers,\6 but changes in these rates closely followed the
movements of annual average unemployment rates for all workers from
1987 through 1997.\7 The unemployment rate for IT workers generally
increased in the late 1980s, peaking at 3 percent in 1991 and falling
to 1.3 percent in 1997.  Unemployment for all workers was 2 to 3
times greater than for IT workers, reaching 7.2 percent in 1992 and
falling to 4.7 percent in 1997.  (See fig.  1.)

   Figure 1:  Unemployment Rates
   for Workers in IT and All
   Occupations, 1987-97

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Source:  CPS annual average data. 

A similar pattern holds for the unemployment rates of the IT
occupations--computer programmers and the occupational group of
systems analysts, computer scientists, and computer engineers.\8 The
unemployment rates of these occupations follow the general movement
of the national average--increasing in the 1980s and then falling to
a 1997 rate lower than the corresponding 1987 rate.  Unemployment
rates for systems analysts, computer scientists, and computer
engineers nearly doubled, from 1.6 percent in 1987 to 3.1 percent in
1993, but dropped to 1.1 percent by 1997.  Unemployment rates for
computer programmers were slightly higher at times, increasing from
2.6 percent in 1987 to 3.5 percent in 1991 and falling to 1.6 percent
by 1997.  (See fig.  2.)

   Figure 2:  Unemployment Rates
   for Workers in IT Occupations,
   1987-97

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Source:  CPS annual average data. 


--------------------
\6 The unemployment rates for professional specialty occupations are
also well below the national average for all workers and follow a
pattern similar to those for IT occupations.  See encl.  II. 

\7 Unemployment rates are presented for wage and salary workers. 
Detailed data tables are presented in encl.  II. 

\8 Unemployment rates and employment levels reported for the
occupational categories systems analyst, computer scientist, and
computer engineer are collected and reported as a group by BLS,
unlike computer programmers, whose unemployment rates and employment
levels BLS reports separately. 


   IT EMPLOYMENT
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3

IT-related employment includes workers employed by IT companies (the
IT industry) and workers employed in IT occupations.  We present
information on IT-related employment in two ways.  First, we present
information on the number of workers employed in the IT industry,
whether in IT occupations or in other jobs.\9 Second, we present
information on the number of workers employed in IT occupations
whether in the IT industry or in other industries. 

The number of workers employed in the IT industry grew steadily from
1987 to 1997.  Total employment in the IT industry more than doubled
from 628,600 in 1987 to 1.34 million in 1997.  (See fig.  3.)

   Figure 3:  Employment in IT
   Industries and Occupations,
   1987-97

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Source:  CPS annual average data and CES data. 

Similarly, the number of workers employed in IT occupations nearly
doubled from 1987 to 1997, when it reached 1.9 million.  Employment
in IT occupations grew by nearly 90,000 jobs annually from 1987 to
1997.\10 Most of the job growth in IT occupations has been for the
occupational categories of systems analyst, computer scientist, and
computer engineer.  The employment of this group of occupations
increased from 447,000 in 1987 to 1.2 million in 1997.  The number of
computer programmers has changed less drastically, increasing from
527,000 in 1987 to 626,000 in 1997.  Although fewer workers were
employed as systems analysts, computer scientists, and computer
engineers than as computer programmers in 1987, these occupations
outnumbered computer programmers by a ratio of 2 to 1 in 1997.  (See
fig.  4.)

   Figure 4:  Employment in IT
   Occupations, 1987-97

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Source:  CPS annual average data. 


--------------------
\9 We use the IT industry to refer to companies in SIC 737, computer
and data processing services, a widely used definition for the IT
industry.  Industry employment is reported for wage and salary
workers. 

\10 BLS forecasts continued growth in IT occupations, projecting an
annual average of 113,000 new jobs in IT occupations between 1996 and
2006. 


   DEGREES IN IT FIELDS OF STUDY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4

The number of degrees awarded in the IT fields of study fell during
the late 1980s and remained level or increased slowly in the 1990s. 
Most of the decline in IT degrees awarded can be attributed to the
decline in bachelor's degrees from 41,610 in 1987 to 27,136 in 1991,
remaining at roughly that level throughout the 1990s.  The number of
associate's, master's, and doctoral degrees awarded in IT fields
increased slowly over the last 10 years, from a combined total of
18,722 degrees awarded in 1987 to a total of 21,601 degrees awarded
in 1996.  (See fig.  5.)

   Figure 5:  Degrees Awarded in
   IT Fields of Study, 1987-96

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Source:  IPEDS data. 


   SALARY OFFERS IN IT FIELDS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :5

We present information on starting salaries for bachelor's degree
candidates in two ways.  First, we present information on salaries
offered to degree candidates majoring in IT fields of study.  This
includes bachelor's degrees in computer science, computer
programming, information sciences, systems analysis, and computer
engineering.  Not all starting salaries offered to degree candidates
majoring in IT fields are for employment in IT occupations.  Second,
we present information on salaries offered to degree candidates for
employment in IT occupations.  These occupations include computer
programming, information systems, systems analysis and design,
software design and development engineering, and hardware design and
development engineering.  Not all starting salaries offered to degree
candidates for employment in IT occupations are for degree candidates
majoring in IT fields. 

Generally, salaries offered to degree candidates majoring in IT
fields of study decreased in real terms (constant 1997 dollars) from
1989 to 1994 and then increased by 1997 to a level slightly above the
1989 average (see fig.  6).  Salary offers to IT majors decreased
from $37,000 in 1989 to $35,000 in 1994 and increased to $37,500 by
1997.\11

   Figure 6:  Salary Offers to
   Bachelor's Degree Candidates in
   IT-Related Fields, 1989-97

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Note:  Salaries are expressed in constant 1997 dollars. 

Source:  NACE data. 

Among students majoring in IT fields of study there were clear
distinctions as to which majors received higher starting salary
offers.  Computer engineering students received the highest salary
offers--over $40,000 in 1997.  The lowest average salaries among IT
majors were offered to students majoring in computer programming and
information sciences--roughly $35,600 in 1997.\12

Computer sciences majors received salary offers consistently between
those of computer engineers and programmers--about $37,200 in 1997. 
(See fig.  7.)

   Figure 7:  Salary Offers to
   Bachelor's Degree Candidates
   for Selected IT Fields of
   Study, 1989-97

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Note:  Salaries are expressed in constant 1997 dollars. 

Source:  NACE data. 

Salaries offered to bachelor's degree candidates for employment in IT
occupations, regardless of major, decreased in real terms (constant
1997 dollars) from 1989 to 1994, increasing in 1997 to a level
slightly above the 1989 average.  Offers for IT jobs to recent
graduates, regardless of their field of study, decreased from $37,000
in 1989 to $34,100 in 1994 and increased to $37,200 by 1997.\13
Regardless of major, graduates with computer engineering job offers
received the highest IT salary offers--over $40,000 in 1997.  (See
fig.  8.)

   Figure 8:  Salary Offers to
   Bachelor's Degree Candidates
   for Selected IT Occupations,
   1989-97

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

Notes:  "Computer sciences" combines salary offers for jobs in
computer programming, information systems, and systems analysis and
design.  "Computer engineering" combines salary offers for jobs in
design and development for both hardware and software.

Salaries are expressed in constant 1997 dollars. 

Source:  NACE data. 


--------------------
\11 The salaries offered to IT majors in fig.  6 represent an average
of the salary offers for bachelor's degree candidates in computer
science, computer programming, information sciences, systems
analysis, and computer engineering.  The salary offers for each IT
field of study are presented in encl.  II. 

\12 The salary offers reported for computer programming and
information sciences represent an average of the salaries offered to
each major.  The separate salary offers are reported in encl.  II. 

\13 The salaries offered to degree candidates for employment in IT
occupations reported in fig.  6 represent an average of the salaries
offered to degree candidates for employment in computer programming,
information systems, systems analysis and design, software design and
development engineering, and hardware design and development
engineering.  Salaries for the separate fields are presented in encl. 
II. 


---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.1

As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce its
contents earlier, we plan no further distribution of this
correspondence until 7 days from its issue date.  At that time, we
will send copies to the Chairmen, House Committees on Commerce and
Science.  Copies will also be made available to others upon request. 

If you have any questions about this correspondence, please contact
me at (202) 512-7014.  Staff who made major contributions to this
work include Sigurd R.  Nilsen, Assistant Director, and Gene
Kuehneman, Senior Economist. 

Carlotta C.  Joyner
Director, Education and
 Employment Issues


Enclosures - 2


DATA SOURCES
=========================================================== Appendix I

We used data from three sources in this correspondence.  Information
on unemployment rates and numbers of workers employed came from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Information on the number and
types of degrees conferred came from the Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System (IPEDS) of the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES).  Information on the salaries offered to bachelor's
degree candidates was provided by the National Association of
Colleges and Employers (NACE).  Although we did not independently
verify the data, data from these sources are widely used and
represent the best data available.  We discuss the data quality for
each source separately below. 


      BLS EMPLOYMENT DATA
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:0.1

Data on unemployment rates and employment by occupation were obtained
from BLS annual average tables for the Current Population Survey
(CPS), a program of personal interviews conducted monthly by the
Bureau of the Census for BLS.  The CPS is a nationally representative
survey used officially for the purpose of computing unemployment
rates.  The sample consists of about 50,000 households selected to
represent the U.S.  population 16 years of age and older.  Employment
numbers and unemployment rates for computer occupations are
calculated by BLS using the annual averages of monthly CPS. 

Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey data on employment for
information technologies (IT) industries come from payroll records
and are reported monthly to BLS and its cooperating state agencies by
nearly 400,000 establishments representing all industries except
agriculture.  Self-employed people and others not on a regular
civilian payroll are not included.  IT industries used throughout
this report are those in Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
737, computer and data processing services. 


      IPEDS DEGREE DATA
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:0.2

NCES has established IPEDS as its core postsecondary data collection
program.  IPEDS is a single comprehensive system that encompasses all
identified postsecondary educational institutions.  IPEDS is designed
to produce national-, state-, and institution-level data for most
postsecondary institutions.  NCES collects information on degrees
conferred through the IPEDS "Completions" survey.  Data are collected
from approximately 11,000 postsecondary institutions on the numbers
of associate's, bachelor's, master's, and other formal degrees
awarded by field of study.  In our report, IT fields of study include
computer engineering; computer and information sciences, general;
computer programming; data processing technology/technician;
information science and systems; computer systems analysis; and other
computer and information sciences. 


      NACE SALARY DATA
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix I:0.3

NACE is a national clearinghouse and publisher of information on the
career planning and employment of the college-educated workforce. 
NACE members include human resources/staffing practitioners who hire
college graduates and career services practitioners at colleges and
universities nationwide.  NACE reports salary offers for bachelor's
degree candidates separately by field of study and by occupation of
job offered.  The salary information is compiled using reports from
the career planning and placement offices of colleges and
universities across the country.\14 NACE does not conduct a survey;
placement offices report information on salary offers to NACE on a
purely voluntary basis.  The offers reported by NACE are described as
"a representative sample of actual job offers made to new college
graduates during the recruiting year and do not imply all job offers
made to all college graduates." Salaries reported do not include any
bonuses, fringe benefits, or overtime rates.  The most widely used
source of such information, NACE is used by colleges, employers, and
government agencies. 

For school years 1988-89 through 1996-97, NACE collected and reported
on salary offers to degree candidates studying computer engineering,
computer science, computer programming, information sciences and
systems, and systems analysis.  For the same period, NACE also
collected and reported salary offers for the occupations software
design and development engineer, hardware design and development
engineer, computer programmer, information systems worker, and
systems analyst and designer.  We report the salary information for
offers made during school years 1988-89 through 1996-97. 


--------------------
\14 The number of participating placement offices varies from year to
year and ranged from 343 to 450 from 1989 to 1997. 


DATA FOR FIGURES IN THIS
CORRESPONDENCE
========================================================== Appendix II



                         Table II.1
          
          Unemployment Rates for Workers in IT and
                 Other Occupations, 1987-97

                              Professional
             Workers in IT       specialty
Year           occupations     occupations     All workers
----------  --------------  --------------  --------------
1987                  2.1%            2.1%            5.8%
1988                   2.2             1.8             5.2
1989                   1.4             1.8             5.0
1990                   2.3             2.0             5.3
1991                   3.0             2.5             6.6
1992                   2.8             2.7             7.2
1993                   2.9             2.7             6.6
1994                   1.9             2.5             5.9
1995                   1.9             2.5             5.4
1996                   1.4             2.3             5.2
1997                   1.3             2.1             4.7
----------------------------------------------------------
Source:  CPS annual average data. 



                         Table II.2
          
          Figure 2--Unemployment Rates for Workers
                 in IT Occupations, 1987-97

                 Systems analysts,
              computer scientists,
Year        and computer engineers    Computer programmers
----------  ----------------------  ----------------------
1987                          1.6%                    2.6%
1988                           1.4                     2.9
1989                           1.3                     1.6
1990                           1.6                     3.0
1991                           2.6                     3.5
1992                           2.6                     3.1
1993                           3.1                     2.7
1994                           1.7                     2.2
1995                           1.9                     1.8
1996                           1.3                     1.6
1997                           1.1                     1.6
----------------------------------------------------------
Source:  CPS annual average data. 



                         Table II.3
          
           Figure 3--Employment in IT Industries
                  and Occupations, 1987-97

Year                 IT industries          IT occupations
----------  ----------------------  ----------------------
1987                       628,600                 974,000
1988                       673,300               1,049,000
1989                       736,300               1,127,000
1990                       771,900               1,199,000
1991                       797,000               1,221,000
1992                       835,500               1,243,000
1993                       892,800               1,347,000
1994                       958,600               1,465,000
1995                     1,089,000               1,486,000
1996                     1,207,900               1,654,000
1997                   1,341,000\a               1,862,000
----------------------------------------------------------
\a Preliminary data. 

Sources:  CPS annual average data and CES data. 



                         Table II.4
          
          Figure 4--Employment in IT Occupations,
                          1987-97

                   Systems
                 analysts,
                  computer
               scientists,
              and computer        Computer
Year             engineers     programmers  IT occupations
----------  --------------  --------------  --------------
1987               447,000         527,000         974,000
1988               479,000         570,000       1,049,000
1989               566,000         561,000       1,127,000
1990               605,000         594,000       1,199,000
1991               675,000         546,000       1,221,000
1992               693,000         550,000       1,243,000
1993               769,000         578,000       1,347,000
1994               916,000         549,000       1,465,000
1995               933,000         553,000       1,486,000
1996             1,093,000         561,000       1,654,000
1997             1,236,000         626,000       1,862,000
----------------------------------------------------------
Source:  CPS annual average data. 



                         Table II.5
          
           Figure 5--Degrees Awarded in IT Fields
                     of Study, 1987-96

                                Degree
            ----------------------------------------------
            Associate'
Year                 s  Bachelor's    Master's    Doctoral
----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------
1987             9,101      41,610       9,190         431
1988             8,628      36,638       9,957         505
1989             7,900      32,652      10,237         625
1990             7,574      29,160      10,460         713
1991             7,677      27,136      10,168         787
1992             9,290      26,650      10,438         863
1993             9,196      26,338      11,118         928
1994             9,301      26,437      11,487         933
1995             9,152      26,749      11,366       1,024
1996           9,922\a    26,837\a    10,729\a       950\a
----------------------------------------------------------
\a Preliminary data. 

Source:  IPEDS data. 



                         Table II.6
          
           Figure 6--Salary Offers to Bachelor's
          Degree Candidates in IT-Related Fields,
                          1989-97

                    IT majors (any     IT occupations (any
Year                   occupation)                  major)
----------  ----------------------  ----------------------
1989                       $37,070                 $36,959
1990                        36,641                  36,396
1991                        36,067                  35,900
1992                        35,371                  35,119
1993                        35,474                  35,014
1994                        34,952                  34,127
1995                        35,422                  35,220
1996                        36,164                  36,119
1997                        37,556                  37,231
----------------------------------------------------------
Note:  Salaries are expressed in constant 1997 dollars. 

Source:  NACE data. 



                         Table II.7
          
           Figure 7--Salary Offers to Bachelor's
          Degree Candidates for Selected IT Fields
                     of Study, 1989-97

                                                  Computer
                                               programming
                                                       and
                  Computer        Computer     information
Year              sciences     engineering        sciences
----------  --------------  --------------  --------------
1989               $37,095         $39,146         $34,804
1990                36,599          38,670          35,080
1991                36,173          38,039          34,044
1992                34,918          37,577          33,936
1993                34,798          37,724          33,475
1994                34,421          36,651          33,640
1995                35,504          36,798          33,657
1996                36,030          38,390          34,619
1997                37,215          40,093          35,560
----------------------------------------------------------
Note:  Salaries are expressed in constant 1997 dollars. 

Source:  NACE data. 



                         Table II.8
          
           Figure 8--Salary Offers to Bachelor's
             Degree Candidates for Selected IT
                    Occupations, 1989-97

Year             Computer sciences    Computer engineering
----------  ----------------------  ----------------------
1989                       $35,738                 $39,706
1990                        35,329                  39,332
1991                        34,739                  39,300
1992                        34,021                  38,594
1993                        33,486                  38,781
1994                        32,921                  37,848
1995                        33,917                  38,504
1996                        34,722                  39,004
1997                        35,771                  40,087
----------------------------------------------------------
Note:  Salaries are expressed in constant 1997 dollars. 

Source:  NACE data. 



                         Table II.9
          
             Salary Offers to Bachelor's Degree
           Candidates by IT Field of Study, 1989-
                             97

                  Computer  Informat              Computer
      Computer  programmin       ion   Systems  engineerin
Year  sciences           g  sciences  analysis           g
----  --------  ----------  --------  --------  ----------
1989   $37,095     $36,651   $34,207   $37,320     $39,146
1990    36,599      34,658    35,159    37,523      38,670
1991    36,173      31,948    34,431    32,431      38,039
1992    34,918      35,332    33,164    34,220      37,577
1993    34,798      35,098    33,014    35,247      37,724
1994    34,421      33,930    33,546    35,975      36,651
1995    35,504      33,642    33,659    35,070      36,798
1996    36,030      33,293    34,788    35,874      38,390
1997    37,215      35,298    35,572    41,833      40,093
----------------------------------------------------------
Note:  Salaries are expressed in constant 1997 dollars. 

Source:  NACE data. 



                        Table II.10
          
             Salary Offers to Bachelor's Degree
            Candidates by IT Occupation, 1989-97

                                      Software    Hardware
      Computer  Informat            design and  design and
      programm       ion   Systems  developmen  developmen
Year       ing   systems  analysis           t           t
----  --------  --------  --------  ----------  ----------
1989   $35,671   $34,645   $36,657     $39,526     $39,980
1990    35,107    34,706    36,274      39,053      39,668
1991    33,894    35,046    35,873      38,519      40,223
1992    33,553    33,369    35,386      38,364      39,019
1993    32,813    33,574    34,606      38,016      39,813
1994    32,853    32,102    33,638      37,530      38,495
1995    33,784    33,708    34,352      38,068      39,448
1996    34,372    34,701    35,471      38,372      40,715
1997    35,597    35,196    36,597      39,630      41,081
----------------------------------------------------------
Note:  Salaries are expressed in constant 1997 dollars. 

Source:  NACE data. 


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