Career
Watch
What IT Workers Want
IF YOU WANT to motivate your IT sta;ers, give them interesting work. That approach would work best with younger employees, but it’s e;ective with older people as well, according to a survey conducted by Forrester Research. In fact, the only thing that was more motivating for older workers was a sense of job security, which could come from statements a company makes or its “history of avoiding outsourcing, or implementing layo;s only as a last resort.” For 86%
of workers 45 and older, job security was chosen as one of the most important factors
for motivation or as one that had a significant impact. Those younger than 45 put it
10th, with just 40% saying it was one of the most important factors or a significant
factor. That’s not a big surprise, of course: Older people naturally feel less resilient than
the young. Other areas on which the older and younger groups didn’t see eye to eye —
employee development and the threat of disciplinary action for poor performance — are
also fairly easy to understand (younger workers are more interested in professional development, and older people are more fearful of disciplinary action). The only other factor with a significant deviation was the desire for one’s work to have a broader purpose,
in a way that improves the community, industry or conditions outside of the company.
Older workers cited that as a motivating factor more frequently than younger people did.
TOP JOB: Software
Engineers Are Back
It wasn’t too long ago that software engineering
was being written o; as a viable career option
for college graduates in the U. S. But things have
turned around enough for jobs site CareerCast to declare it the best job in 2011.
Also in the top 10: computer systems analyst, at No. 5.
#
1
WE’RE #1
CareerCast looked
at 200 job titles across
several industries, rank-
ing them according to
five criteria: work envi-
ronment, physical de-
mands, outlook, income
and stress. Here’s how
CareerCast explained
the resurgence of
software engineering:
“A proliferation of com-
panies making applica-
tions for smartphones
and tablets, along with
the push to develop
‘cloud’ software hosted
entirely online, has
for software engineers broader and more diverse. And
a diverse job market brings improvements in stress
factors such as growth potential and competitiveness,
as workers become less beholden to employers or vul-
nerable to outsourcing.”
$87,140
Comparing Motivational Factors for Older and Younger IT Workers
■ = One of the most motivating factors for workers 45 and older | ■ = A factor with significant impact for workers 45 and older
■ = One of the most motivating factors for workers younger than 45 | ■ = A factor with significant impact for workers younger than 45
Job
security
43% 43% 86%
12% 28% 40%
Base
compensation
Interesting
work
Autonomy, or the ability
to control one’s own work
Relationship
with boss
Work/life
balance
23% 51% 74%
39% 45% 84%
31% 42% 73%
25% 50% 75%
19% 53% 72%
15% 47% 62%
23% 41% 64%
11% 55% 66%
Bonuses for specific
accomplishments
13% 37% 50%
10% 33% 43%
Nonfinancial
recognition
10% 40% 50%
4% 32% 36%
Broader
purpose
12% 37% 49%
12% 40% 52%
Mastery
10% 31% 41%
2% 23% 25%
Disciplinary
action
5% 28% 33%
11% 55% 66%
Employee
development
