Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., December 26, 2008 Kislev 29, 5769 | | Israel Time: 01:59 (EST+7)   Back to Homepage web haaretz.com Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Joy of Giving Travel Week's End Anglo File

Research group IDC predicts thousands of high-tech layoffs By Paz Vaysman and Orr Hirschauge Tags: IDC, israel news, IT More than 2,000 layoffs from technology and IT companies were reported in the months of November and December and the trend is not about to change any time soon, according to research company IDC Israel. IDC estimates that between 9,000 to 13,700 jobs will be lost in the high-tech sector and corporate computer divisions in 2009. In addition, IDC expects revenues in the Israeli information technology industry to fall off by about a billion shekels over the next four years, with zero growth, and it going even slightly negative in 2009. Advertisement IDC Israel chief executive Gideon Lopez said yesterday morning that the Israeli IT sector, which generates total revenues of some $2 billion annually, will be among the last to be hit by the present economic crisis because of delayed revenue recognition. For the same reason, the sector will also be among the last to recover from the crisis, Lopez says. The effects of the crisis will be felt in financial results of IT companies starting in the second half of 2009, and will continue to affect the sector throughout 2010, when other markets will have already be experiencing growth. IDC also forecasts that a weakening of local research companies, such as Comverse, Nice, and others, will play a critical part in the slowdown of the hardware and software markets, which will fall below 2007 levels. Israeli high-tech companies involved in development, which currently employ about 102,000 workers, will cut 7% - 10% of their workforce, the company predicts. IDC estimates that IT companies, which employ about 28,000 people, will trim their workforce less drastically, by about 4% - 7%. Additional cuts are expected within corporate computer divisions throughout all economic sectors, where 38,000 are currently employed. IDC forecasts that these divisions will be firing about 2% - 4% of their workforce, and that employment of outsourcing will become more common. As a result, Lopez expects that computer 'gurus', computer experts on which computerization projects are pivotal, will become a more powerful force in the market. Research director for emerging technologies Dan Yachin says that virtualization - which many systems managers have identified as a preferred area for investment, as well as business knowledge, are both areas that are expected to strengthen in the immediate future. The business model of software of a service requires new solutions, and IDC expects to see a new generation of information security solutions with an emphasis on the information itself and not on the network. Yachin added that he expects technologies for fast information access within corporations to enjoy high demand. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Not so funny Jewish groups condemn a Belgian public broadcaster for airing Holocaust jokes. An endless nightmare An Indian paper reports the Mumbai terrorists tortured their Chabad House victims.

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