As computers, robots and other high-technology equipment play a bigger part in daily life, jobs in high-technology services are becoming one of the fastest-growing employment areas, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Information about this trend is in a new study, ”Future Trends II-Perspectives on the International High-Technology Services Industry in the 1990s.” It was prepared by Andersen Consulting, a unit of the public accounting firm Arthur Andersen & Co., for the Association for Services Management International, based in Ft. Myers, Fla.
George Keller, the association`s executive vice president, is concerned about the supply of technicians. His organization represents 6,000 high-tech service executives and professionsls who manage about 500,000 technicians at companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co., Digital Equipment Corp. and
International Business Machines Corp. The need for these technicians is expected to increase by 50 percent by 1995.
”By the middle of the 1990s, high-tech services will become truly international,” Keller said. He predicts technical workers will be needed worldwide.
Automation already is in place: Computers are commonplace in making airline and train reservations and in dispatching police and fire units. Robotics is used in many industries, including manufacturing, printing and utilities.
High-tech services not only involve repairing the hardware but also include maintaining and updating software, consulting and training.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the computer service technician field is one of the 20 fastest-growing occupations, along with computer systems analyst and operator, office machine repairer, electronic data processing operator and mechanical engineering technician.
The Andersen study predicts that traditional service delivery-a repairer with a bag of tools doing a specific repair job-will be replaced by remote diagnostics. Also, more problem solving and project management will be required of technicians as service organizations try to focus on training customers to repair and maintain equipment themselves and on anticipating customers` needs.
Among other findings of the study:
– The Pacific Basin will be the fastest-growing area in electronics revenue, increasing about 16 percent yearly.
– In Europe, revenue will grow 13 percent.
– North America will gain 8 percent.
