Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
processes, were growing rapidly in relation to hardware—for every dollar
spent on computer hardware, claimed the McKinsey report, two dollars
were spent on staff and operations—it should be no surprise that person-
nel issues were the focus of particular attention. Computer programmers
alone required at least 35 percent of the total operational budget. The
size of the average computer department had doubled in the years
between 1962 and 1968, and was expected to double again by 1975. A
report in 1966 by the American Federation of Information Processing
Societies (AFIPS) estimated that in 1960, there were already 60,000
systems analysts and as many as 120,000 computer programmers working
in the industry. AFIPS expected this number to more than double by the
end of the decade.
35
There is no question that the rising costs of software development
caused tension between computer personnel and their corporate manag-
ers. The continuous gap between the demand and supply of qualifi ed
computer personnel had in recent years pushed up their salary levels far
faster (and in many cases higher) than those of other professionals and
managers. In 1965 the ADP (Automatic Data Processing, Inc.) newsletter
predicted average salary increases in data processing in the range of 40
to 50 percent over the next fi ve years.
36
Programming professionals had
a “personal monopoly” that “manifests itself in the market place,” which
provided them with considerable opportunities for horizontal mobility,
either in pursuit of higher salaries or more challenging positions.
37
Simply
maintaining existing programming staff levels proved a real trial for
personnel managers.
38
One large employer experienced a sustained
turnover rate of 10 percent
per month
.
39
For entry-level programmers
whose marketability increased rapidly the turnover rate was a high as
100 percent, one personnel manager estimated, which further exacer-
bated the problem of training and recruitment.
40
Who was willing to
train programmers only to see them leverage that investment into a
higher salary elsewhere? The problem of “body snatching” of computer
personnel by search fi rms and other personnel consultants became so bad
that AFIPS banned recruiters from the annual Joint Computer
Conferences.
41
This simply shifted the action to nearby bars and hotel
rooms, where headhunters would slip blanket job offers under every
door.
But although the rising cost of software and software personnel was
certainly a factor in the perceived applications crisis of the late 1960s,
this was more than simply a recapitulation of the personnel problems of
the previous decade. Then it had been largely accepted that the work
