New Study Says IT Sector to Help Drive Global Economic Recovery
Research from 52 countries forecasts the creation of 5.8 million new
IT jobs worldwide and 75,000 new businesses over the next four years.
REDMOND, Wash/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global IT research
firm International Data Corporation (IDC) and Microsoft Corp. today
released the results of global research, finding that the information
technology (IT) industry will create 5.8 million new jobs and more than
75,000 new businesses over the next four years.
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The expected growth rate for IT employment of 3 percent a year is
more than three times the rate of growth of total employment and a
strong indicator that investing in IT will contribute to economic
recovery and growth.
"In this fundamental economic reset, innovative technologies will
play a vital role in driving productivity gains and enabling the
creation of new local businesses and highly skilled jobs that fuel
economic recovery and support sustainable economic growth," said Steve
Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. "Countries that foster innovation and invest
in infrastructure, education and skills development for their citizens
will have a major competitive advantage in the global marketplace."
The IDC study, commissioned by Microsoft, investigates the
contribution of IT to gross domestic product (GDP), job creation in the
IT industry, employment in the software sector, formation of new
companies, local IT spending, and tax revenues in 52 countries,
representing 98 percent of total worldwide IT spending. The research
found that Microsoft and its ecosystem of local partners, vendors and
service providers are a major catalyst of local economic growth and
opportunity, during both the current economic difficulties and recovery.
Summary of Key Findings About the IT Industry
-- IT spending is expected to grow at triple the rate of GDP growth in
the 52 countries. Although forecasted growth of IT spending is muted
since the advent of the global recession, it is pegged at 3.3 percent
per year between now and the end of 2013.
-- The Microsoft ecosystem, defined as local companies that develop
and/or sell products that run with or on Microsoft software, or that
service and distribute Microsoft software, is a critical economic
catalyst in every country where Microsoft operates. For every unit of
local revenue that Microsoft will earn in 2009, other companies will
earn an average of 8.70.
-- In 2009, the companies in the Microsoft ecosystem will generate more
than $535 billion in revenues for themselves. These revenues will
remain in local economies.
-- Global spending on IT will create 5.8 million new jobs between the end
of 2009 and the end of 2013. The expected growth rate of 3 percent a
year is more than three times as fast as the growth of total
employment.
-- Software drives IT growth. Spending on software is growing faster than
spending on IT overall -- 4.8 percent a year between 2008 and 2013,
compared with 3.3 percent for all IT spending. During 2009, total IT
employment in the 52 countries dropped a fraction of a percentage
point, yet software-related employment grew 4 percent.
-- The IT market will create more than 75,000 new businesses over the
next four years. Most of the new companies will be small and locally
owned organizations.
"Over the past 20 years, we've seen transformative power in how
investments in IT innovations foster economic growth," said Robert D.
Atkinson, Ph.D., founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. "Continued innovation
and investment in information technology will help jump-start recovery
from the current recession and will significantly contribute to the
growth of employment and new businesses."
Because of its extensive partner network, the Microsoft ecosystem
creates economic opportunities for companies selling products that run
with or on Microsoft software, or that service and distribute Microsoft
software.
"Being part of the Microsoft ecosystem is creating opportunities not
only for our company, but also for other companies and individuals that
we partner with to provide our service," said Dan Merrits, vice
president of marketing for Eduify. "It's ignited a ripple effect that
extends value and growth to local communities around the world."
Additional Findings About the Software Industry
-- The emerging countries on the list of 52 -- all countries excluding
the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Western
Europe -- will account for only 21 percent of IT spending in 2009 and
39 percent of IT-related employment. But, over the next four years,
they will account for more than 50 percent of net new IT spending and
70 percent of new IT-related jobs.
-- IDC estimates that cloud services could add $800 billion in net new
business revenues between the end of 2009 and the end of 2013.
-- Companies in the Microsoft ecosystem employ 6.1 million people.
IT-using organizations employ another 8.8 million IT professionals who
work with Microsoft software or the products and services based on it.
Together, those 14.9 million people account for 42 percent of the
people working in the IT industry or as IT professionals in the 52
countries.
-- IT spending provides revenues for more than 1.2 million companies
selling or distributing hardware, software and services. Those
companies, in turn, employ more than 13 million people. Another
22-plus million IT professionals work in IT-using organizations.
-- Software accounts for a modest slice of overall IT spending but has a
disproportionately positive impact on local economies. Software drives
activity in the services and distribution sectors, as well as in
organizations using IT, so although worldwide spending on packaged
software will be only 21 percent of total IT spending in 2009, 51
percent of employment in IT will be software-related.
-- The employees and companies in these 52 countries will pay nearly $1.2
trillion in taxes in 2009. In the next four years, there will be
nearly $366 billion in net new tax revenues.
Full results of the study can be found at http://microsoft.com/economicgrowth.
About IDC Methodology
This study applies IDC's Economic Impact Model, which assesses the
IT industry's impact on job creation, company formation, local IT
spending and tax revenues in addition to assessing Microsoft's partner
ecosystem. The study's spending figures accounted for hardware,
software, services and data networking expenditures by consumers,
businesses, governments and educational institutions within each
country. Tax revenue figures were based on potential VAT or sales tax
revenues from the sale of hardware, software or services, as well as
business and personal income taxes and social taxes. IT employment
included the number of people employed (full-time equivalent) in
hardware, software, services or channel firms, and those individuals
managing IT resources in an IT-using organization (e.g., programmers,
help desk, IT managers). All data was cross-checked against published
information and census data available from government sources and
validated by local government officials. A report on IDC's methodology
is available at http://microsoft.com/economicgrowth.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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Source: Microsoft Corp.
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