COMPANIES CRAVE HIGH-TECH KNOW-HOW, BUSINESS SMARTS.

Byline: Jon Bigness Chicago Tribune 

Kevin Devick isn't a techie by training, but he recognized a high-technology trend when he saw one - and wound up creating a new job for himself at Platinum Entertainment Inc.

Devick, who was vice president of operations, realized two years ago the Downers Grove-based music company needed to have a presence on the World Wide Web. ``I said this should be done,'' he said. ``This is something you have to have. It's the climate of the time. Plus, it's a useful thing. We're in a glitzy business sometimes. It's the entertainment industry.''

So he put himself in charge of creating Platinum Entertainment's Web site and now holds one of the hottest tech jobs around: Webmaster.

Webmasters like Devick, who design and run a company's home page on the Internet, and programmers who know their way around COBOL, a decades-old computer language, are the hot tickets in tech jobs these days, and companies are falling over themselves to attract and retain employees with high-tech skills.

In the past, companies relied mostly on college graduates. But although universities are churning out about 25,000 technically trained graduates a year, it's not enough to meet the demand.

To find people, they're recruiting overseas, developing more sophisticated in-house training programs and even pulling some old techies out of retirement. Once companies get their hands on qualified people, they're trying to keep them happy with healthy salaries and perks, including bonuses for knowing the most current, popular technologies.

But what technology professionals want isn't just a fat wallet - it's the right work environment. Assuming they are getting a competitive salary, those in high-tech careers will stay with a company that gives them a chance to learn new skills, provides them with the latest technology and fosters a pleasant, creative place to work, said Wayne Hughes, a compensation consultant with Lincolnshire-based Hewitt Associates LLC.

``A lot of companies are panicking and throwing money at the problem,'' he said. ``But if you pay great but the work environment is terrible, the scale is out of balance and people will probably leave.''

But from whom much is given, much is required. Having the largest pocket protector on the block just doesn't cut it anymore in the high-tech world. To move ahead, companies are demanding the geeks who write the code that keep the computers humming understand the business as well. ``Business knowledge is becoming as important as knowing the technology,'' Hughes said.

Joan Lowell spent 19 years working for Hyatt Hotels Corp., focused primarily on developing the company's central reservations system and maintaining the data that flowed through the system. It was her experience in the hospitality industry and technical know-how that made her the ideal person to head Hyatt's automation marketing efforts.

``She's just a real nice blend of industry and technical experience,'' said Linda Aylesworth, president of the People Bank Ltd., an executive search firm in Lombard, Ill. ``It's really hard to find people who have it all.''

A growing dependency on computers in the workplace and rapid changes in technology have increased the need for systems analysts and computer engineers. Of the 500 occupations tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, systems analysts and computer engineers rank third and fourth in the list of jobs that have the golden combination of high wages, fast growth and a large number of openings. Only lawyers and physicians rank higher.

By 2005, the two tech occupations will grow more than 90 percent above 1994 employment levels, with a total of 755,000 jobs available, the federal agency reports.

In that time, systems analysts and computer engineers will rake in an average weekly wage of $845, or $44,000 a year.

On the other end of the scale, data-entry keyers and computer operators rank among the 25 occupations most in decline, according to government statistics. With software that allows computer users to enter data as they perform tasks and improvements in data-imaging technology, the paperless society is coming closer to reality, said John Cunningham, president of KMD Associates Inc., a management-consulting firm in Easton, Conn. ``When you eliminate paper, you eliminate the need for redundant keying,'' he said.