Janco Associates in September declared that financial firms' woes, would "glut the IT job market." According to Janco's estimates, more than 230 IT professionals at Lehman Brothers who make US$250,000 or more a year will be out of a job by year-end. At Merrill Lynch, more than 180 IT professionals making more than US$250,000 a year will be without work as well, Janco says.
IT professionals say they have seen workloads increase and job performance suffer. A recent discussion in Network World's online community showed that taking on more work could prove beneficial to some IT professionals, but others argue it could cause premature burnout.
"While I commend all those IT people putting in the extra effort, they need to understand that they are downgrading their worth. If you're a salaried employee, you are paid based on 40-hour weeks. All this added responsibility (skills) usually translates into 60-hour weeks or more, with no increase in pay," one comment reads. "I have seen a lot of people burn themselves out, become experienced in everything and good at nothing."