I often get this question from prospective candidates of our IT Career Track programs. Overall Unemployment in the US is over 5% but IT unemployment is at historic lows- around 2%. While it is true that many major industries are experiencing cutbacks and layoffs including the financial services, mortgage, and automotive industries- just to name a few, IT employment continues to experience growth. The primary reason IT has not been affected by the latest economic slowdown is because the number of young people getting into IT has declined dramatically (by as much as 40% over the last 5 years according to Cisco) while at the same time, older IT Veterans are beginning to retire in droves.
One expert estimates that by 2010, the US workforce will experience a shortage of between 500,000 and 1 million IT workers alone.