With the Y2K witching hour approaching its is becoming clear that IS professionals will among those least likely to be celebrating the advent of a new millennium. According to an estimate of International Data Corporation, some 5 million more people will working overtime on New Year’s Eve in the US that would normally be doing so.
The Y2K overtime phenomena will have a global impact, but it will be at its most pronounced in the US, where IDC estimates that 81% of large companies employing 500 staff or more will be paying overtime to IS professionals on New Year’s Eve, compared to a world average of 71%. Smaller companies will not make so many demands on IS and other support staff, but IDC still expects 51% of US, and 43% of all medium-sized enterprises to take Y2K staffing precautions, and 35% and 25% of small employers in the US and worldwide respectively.
The on alert status of IS professionals for New Year’s eve is a stark contrast to the situation in other sectors, particularly the transport industry. In the case of the airline business, for instance, early caution by operators such as the Dutch national airline, KLM, which announced plans not to fly over the date change threshold, has rebounded on other carriers, such as United Airlines, which has since cut services due to lack of demand.
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