SHARE

IT Startups Offer Freedom, Speed: Dice Report

According to more than 750 tech professionals surveyed by Dice, startups appeal not for their much-discussed perks, but for their workplace environment. Those who choose life in a startup do so because they believe that’s where they’ll find bosses and colleagues who value entrepreneurship (42 percent), speed (22 percent) and freedom (19 percent). For all […]

Written By

Nathan Eddy

Aug 3, 2011

Channel Insider content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

According to more than 750 tech professionals surveyed by Dice, startups appeal not for their much-discussed perks, but for their workplace environment. Those who choose life in a startup do so because they believe that’s where they’ll find bosses and colleagues who value entrepreneurship (42 percent), speed (22 percent) and freedom (19 percent).

For all the hype (and venture capital) startups may attract, they were still the potential employer of choice for slightly less than a third (31 percent) of responding technology professionals. Established companies may have a reputation for being conservative and confining, but for tech workers who say they’d prefer the corporate route, cubicle life in the IT department is more stable (74 percent), more structured (18 percent) and less risky (8 percent).

Interestingly, the appeal of startups isn’t simply restricted to college grads and 20-somethings. While respondents in their late 30s to age 50 were the least likely to choose working at the next Twitter or Zynga, the closer tech workers got to retirement age, the more likely they were to see a startup as their best choice, said Dice managing director Alice Hill. “You’ve heard that with age comes wisdom,” she said. “For tech workers, it also seems to bring the need for a looser, freer workplace and a dash of startup risk.”

The company’s August jobs report found the number of available IT jobs as of the first of the month stood at 81,498, down from July’s report, which found 82,867 available IT jobs. Of the positions tallied in the report, 49, 540 were full-time positions, 34,855 were contract positions, and 1,578 were part-time positions. The New York/New Jersey metro area was the top region to find a job, with 9,378 jobs posted as of August 1. That represents a 14 percent rise in available jobs in the region compared with the same period last year.

CompTIA, the non-profit trade association, recently announced it is launching a new initiative to bring together industry, academic and government leaders to address the global need for skilled technology workers. The council will be comprised of up to as many as 15 members, drawn from CompTIA membership; other IT industry leaders; the academic, education and training communities; and leading government advocates who share a common interest in developing new waves of IT workers. The full roster of council members will be announced later this year.

IT Startups Offer Freedom, Speed: Dice Report

Nathan Eddy

Recommended for you...

Company

Categories