New Study Says IT Sector to Help Drive Global Economic Recovery

Research from 52 countries forecasts the creation of 5.8 million new IT jobs
worldwide and 75,000 new businesses over the next four years.

REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global IT research firm
International Data Corporation (IDC) and Microsoft Corp. today released the
results of global research, finding that the information technology (IT)
industry will create 5.8 million new jobs and more than 75,000 new businesses
over the next four years.

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The expected growth rate for IT employment of 3 percent a year is more than
three times the rate of growth of total employment and a strong indicator that
investing in IT will contribute to economic recovery and growth.

"In this fundamental economic reset, innovative technologies will play a vital
role in driving productivity gains and enabling the creation of new local
businesses and highly skilled jobs that fuel economic recovery and support
sustainable economic growth," said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. "Countries
that foster innovation and invest in infrastructure, education and skills
development for their citizens will have a major competitive advantage in the
global marketplace."

The IDC study, commissioned by Microsoft, investigates the contribution of IT
to gross domestic product (GDP), job creation in the IT industry, employment
in the software sector, formation of new companies, local IT spending, and tax
revenues in 52 countries, representing 98 percent of total worldwide IT
spending. The research found that Microsoft and its ecosystem of local
partners, vendors and service providers are a major catalyst of local economic
growth and opportunity, during both the current economic difficulties and
recovery.

Summary of Key Findings About the IT Industry
-- IT spending is expected to grow at triple the rate of GDP growth in
the
52 countries. Although forecasted growth of IT spending is muted since
the advent of the global recession, it is pegged at 3.3 percent per
year
between now and the end of 2013.
-- The Microsoft ecosystem, defined as local companies that develop
and/or
sell products that run with or on Microsoft software, or that service
and distribute Microsoft software, is a critical economic catalyst in
every country where Microsoft operates. For every unit of local
revenue
that Microsoft will earn in 2009, other companies will earn an average
of 8.70.
-- In 2009, the companies in the Microsoft ecosystem will generate more
than $535 billion in revenues for themselves. These revenues will
remain
in local economies.
-- Global spending on IT will create 5.8 million new jobs between the end
of 2009 and the end of 2013. The expected growth rate of 3 percent a
year is more than three times as fast as the growth of total
employment.
-- Software drives IT growth. Spending on software is growing faster than
spending on IT overall -- 4.8 percent a year between 2008 and 2013,
compared with 3.3 percent for all IT spending. During 2009, total IT
employment in the 52 countries dropped a fraction of a percentage
point,
yet software-related employment grew 4 percent.

-- The IT market will create more than 75,000 new businesses over the
next
four years. Most of the new companies will be small and locally owned
organizations.

"Over the past 20 years, we've seen transformative power in how investments in
IT innovations foster economic growth," said Robert D. Atkinson, Ph.D.,
founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Information Technology and
Innovation Foundation. "Continued innovation and investment in information
technology will help jump-start recovery from the current recession and will
significantly contribute to the growth of employment and new businesses."

Because of its extensive partner network, the Microsoft ecosystem creates
economic opportunities for companies selling products that run with or on
Microsoft software, or that service and distribute Microsoft software.

"Being part of the Microsoft ecosystem is creating opportunities not only for
our company, but also for other companies and individuals that we partner with
to provide our service," said Dan Merrits, vice president of marketing for
Eduify. "It's ignited a ripple effect that extends value and growth to local
communities around the world."

Additional Findings About the Software Industry
-- The emerging countries on the list of 52 -- all countries excluding
the
United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Western
Europe
-- will account for only 21 percent of IT spending in 2009 and 39
percent of IT-related employment. But, over the next four years, they
will account for more than 50 percent of net new IT spending and 70
percent of new IT-related jobs.
-- IDC estimates that cloud services could add $800 billion in net new
business revenues between the end of 2009 and the end of 2013.
-- Companies in the Microsoft ecosystem employ 6.1 million people.
IT-using
organizations employ another 8.8 million IT professionals who work
with
Microsoft software or the products and services based on it. Together,
those 14.9 million people account for 42 percent of the people working
in the IT industry or as IT professionals in the 52 countries.
-- IT spending provides revenues for more than 1.2 million companies
selling or distributing hardware, software and services. Those
companies, in turn, employ more than 13 million people. Another
22-plus
million IT professionals work in IT-using organizations.
-- Software accounts for a modest slice of overall IT spending but has a
disproportionately positive impact on local economies. Software drives
activity in the services and distribution sectors, as well as in
organizations using IT, so although worldwide spending on packaged
software will be only 21 percent of total IT spending in 2009, 51
percent of employment in IT will be software-related.

-- The employees and companies in these 52 countries will pay nearly $1.2
trillion in taxes in 2009. In the next four years, there will be
nearly
$366 billion in net new tax revenues.

Full results of the study can be found at http://microsoft.com/economicgrowth.

About IDC Methodology
This study applies IDC's Economic Impact Model, which assesses the IT
industry's impact on job creation, company formation, local IT spending and
tax revenues in addition to assessing Microsoft's partner ecosystem. The
study's spending figures accounted for hardware, software, services and data
networking expenditures by consumers, businesses, governments and educational
institutions within each country. Tax revenue figures were based on potential
VAT or sales tax revenues from the sale of hardware, software or services, as
well as business and personal income taxes and social taxes. IT employment
included the number of people employed (full-time equivalent) in hardware,
software, services or channel firms, and those individuals managing IT
resources in an IT-using organization (e.g., programmers, help desk, IT
managers). All data was cross-checked against published information and census
data available from government sources and validated by local government
officials. A report on IDC's methodology is available at
http://microsoft.com/economicgrowth.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software,
services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full
potential.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

Rapid Response Team of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, +1-503-443-7070,
rrt@waggeneredstrom.com, for Microsoft Corp.