In Search of IT Workers

Agencies routinely say it needs information technology specialists, and with initiatives to follow stimulus spending and to make government more transparent, the need for technologists will only increase. Earl Devaney, Obama's stimulus watchdog, lamented on Thursday while testifying on the Hill about the IT challenges he faces.

Maybe the government can find some IT folks who have been laid off. IT employment fell by half a percent in February, slightly better than the December drop of 1.4 percent, the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses in Alexandria, Va., reported. IN all, about 63,000 IT jobs have been lost since November 2008. Not nearly as bad as the general employment market, but you'd expect some of those workers to drift to government work. But agencies tell us that they're not seeing any increase in job applications.