Home > Media Coverage > Toronto Star, December 16, 2002

Tech workers aging
Study to examine IT workplace. How do employers cope with change?

By Melissa Leong
When Julie McMullin walked into her brother's workplace, she saw fun.

Young employees at bitHeads Inc., an Ottawa-based software development company, played pool and video games at the company bar while slamming back frothy drafts.

In their off time, they also watched hockey in the firm's movie theatre while munching popcorn.

When McMullin, 37, left bitHeads Inc., she had questions.

Companies in the information technology sector may cater well to a younger workforce but are they ready to handle their employees as they age?

Does the sector consist predominantly of young, white males?

McMullin, a sociology professor at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont., is embarking on a four-year, national study to answer those and other questions. She was awarded $3 million from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) earlier this week.

It's one of the largest grants the agency has ever given. McMullin will be one of the first searchers to tackle the issue of aging in the IT workforce.

"The whole nature of work has changed for everyone but it's especially dramatic for people in the IT business because that world just changes so fast," said Dominique Lacasse, spokesperson for SSHRC. "If we don't understand what is going on... then it's to our detriment."

McMullin said companies deal well with their employees' school-to-work life transition; however, she wanted to "explore how firms deal with other life course transitions" such as having children."We expect to find in most small- to mid-sized IT firms, they won't have good pension policies and good maternity-leave policies in place," she said.

“There's a focus on stock options and making money - things that are important to younger people."

She expects most employees will be young, white males - with fewer older workers, females and racial minorities. "There might be unintentional discrimination going on," McMullin said.

She speculated that there may be fewer women in the industry because women are "perceived as being less technically competent and they aren't as encouraged at a young age to engage in technical kinds of play."

Older workers face education barriers because the IT industry lacks sufficient retraining programs for them, she said. McMullin also added many don't want to go back to university full-time for a computer science degree.

McMullin, who's been a professor at the University of Western Ontario for five years, said people heard her study already she's overwhelmed by public response.

"I have been getting a huge response from older IT workers who are saying, `I was fired five years ago and I haven't been able to find work in the IT sector.' "

Her research will also explore employment growth in the sector and the specific skill sets required for IT work.

McMullin hopes to use the data to develop policy initiatives for the IT sector.

"It will enable governments, employers and employees to deal more effectively with issues of aging workforces, diversity employment and life-long learning."

McMullin will be doing case studies of IT companies in: Canada, Australia, the United States and the European Union. "Australians seem to be ahead of us in terms of how they treat older-workers and retraining issues," she said "We can learn from their experience."

McMullin will be partnering with the SSHRC and the Human Resource Development Council of Canada.

They will be doing an IT survey across the country to determine the proportion of older workers, women and minorities in the sector. The study begins in January and will end with an international conference in 2006.

The study involves researchers at eight universities, along with various labour groups, technology organizations, government agencies and IT companies.

Original Citation Information:

Leong, Melissa. (2002, December 16). Tech workers aging study to examine IT workplace. The
Toronto Star, pp. C1-2.