ABSTRACT
We have a soœware maintenance crisis. It was estimated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics1 that computer soœware engineers and computer programmers held about 1.3 million jobs in just the United States in 2008 with projected growth between 2008 and 2018 at 32 percent. Approximately 514,800 were computer applications soœware engineers, about 394,800 were computer systems soœware engineers, and about 426,700 were computer programmers. Although computer soœware engineers and computer programmers could be found in a wide range of industries, about 32 percent were employed in providing design, development, and related services. e remaining 900,000 were employed primarily in soœware maintenance tasks. Many also worked for soœware publishers, manufacturers of computers and related electronic equipment, §nancial institutions, and insurance providers. About 48,200 computer soœware engineers and computer programmers were self-employed in 2008. is growth continues even though there is movement of jobs for computer programmers overseas.
