Information Technology Industry Overview

The US information technology services industry comprises about 100,000 enterprises with combined annual revenue of approximately $290 billion, according to Hoovers. Major providers of IT services include Computer Sciences Corp., Unisys, IBM and Hewlett-Packard. Overall, the industry that provides jobs in information technology services is concentrated; the 50 largest companies bring in about half of the total revenue.

Information Technology Job Market

A little more than 300,000 professionals held jobs as computer and information systems managers in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), with 18 percent job growth projected between 2010 and 2020. More than 900,000 people were software developers, with the profession projected to grow by a robust 30 percent over the forecast decade. Jobs for database administrators, which currently number 110,800, are projected to increase 31 percent by 2020.

Although information technology jobs growth slowed somewhat during the 2007-2009 recession, IT employment has been a bright spot in the 2010s labor market. With employers determined to automate wherever possible to cut costs, work opportunities in information technology niches are abundant. Java, Ruby on Rails and cloud computing are very promising choices for information technology careers.

Some of the most common information technology job titles are IT specialist, database administrator, systems administrator, support technician, systems engineer, systems architect, computer programmer, software developer, network engineer, information technology manager, director of information technology, chief technology officer and chief information officer.

Information Technology Salaries

Computer and information systems managers earned median wages of $118,010 in May 2011, according to the BLS. Applications software developers' median wages were $89,280. Median earnings for database administrators were $75,190.