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Shrinking the IT department and cutting down on costs are two commonly touted benefits of cloud computing. We've reported before about estimates of how many IT jobs would be eliminated by cloud computing. But so far, we're not seeing that happen. Instead, firms are hiring more IT staff and paying them more.

According to a new report from Forrester, 62% of information workers in North America and Europe work remotely. The report says that many clients are approaching the firm for insight on creating best practices for remote, mobile workplaces assuming these changes are part of the remote future when in reality the change is already well underway.

Previously, we looked at some of Forrester's research indicating that as much as 18% of the workforce used their personal smartphones for work, whether they were allowed to or not. That research showed only 29% of workers polled did work outside the office.

We've covered the increased demand for IT professionals here recently and outlined which skills are in highest demand. Now Modis, an IT staffing firm, has released some additional data on what jobs are in demand and why.

This infographic looks at the best cities to find tech jobs (which we already covered here), why companies are keeping talent in-house and the hottest job titles.

Arunn Ramadoss thinks you should learn COBOL. Admittedly, he's biased. He's the program manager of Micro Focus, a company that sells modernization tools for COBOL (see our previous coverage here).

Young programmers may be wondering whether they need to learn Java, or whether knowing JavaScript and either Python or Ruby is enough. And with computer science graduates reportedly receiving multiple job offers straight out of college, why look even further into the past at something like COBOL?

Information workers aren't the only ones affected by information technologies. For example, computers aren't the only piece of equipment being remotely monitored by employers anymore. The Wall Street Journal reports that employers are increasingly using tools like GPS and wireless communications technologies to keep tabs on heavy construction equipment, long-haul trucks, delivery vans, buses and police cars.

"Now, they can see who is wasting fuel by idling too much, operating outside their assigned area, working machines too hard or driving too fast." the paper says. The data received from this equipment can be mined for insights into how to increase efficiency. Also, Equipment dealers sometimes arrange to receive the data from machines to help with scheduling routine maintenance.

Mozilla Developer Evangelist Christian Heilmann shared some thoughts on working remotely today on his blog. Although Heilmann works on a small team for an open source software company, the lessons he's learned about remote work are broadly applicable to many remote working situations.

Here are some highlights from Heilmann's post:

E-mail notifications, phone calls, text messages, instant messages and activity stream alerts and other distractions are all part of the modern workplace. It's been long known that interruptions and multi-tasking reduce worker productivity - but by how much?

According to research sponsored by Harmon.ie, a company that sells a solution for integrating Microsoft SharePoint with e-mail (coverage), distractions cost businesses $10,375 per person, per year.

The green movement is without a doubt affecting companies both large and small. Telecommuting, the virtual office and Web conferencing are all ways that companies can keep energy costs down while at the same time finding better ways to communicate and optimize business functions. This brief from Qwest Business explores the ways that businesses can leverage environmentally sound practices and technologies to build environmentally sustainable business architectures that save money through enhanced productivity and business efficiencies.

Let's be perfectly honest. For those of us who are tied to a Web browser all day, searching the Internet comes in handy for a wide range of work-related purposes. But who among us hasn't snuck in an on-the-job search or two to find a place to eat that night, look up trivial news stories or straight-up distract ourselves with queries like "play Tetris online" or "kitten falling asleep"?

Indeed, the Web sometimes blurs the line between our personal and professional activity, and the folks in charge have a vested interest in ensuring we're maintaining at least a bare minimum level of productivity. Some companies restrict Web access or snoop on employees' browsing, while others are more hands off.

Our posts on trends shaping the IT job market and the best U.S. cities for finding IT jobs were quite popular. While demand for tech workers is strong even in this so-called "jobless recovery," some skills are in more demand than others. There is also the problem of matching your skill set with jobs, considering how many employers demand deep experience in many different technologies.

How are you feeling about your current skill set?