He took evening programming courses at Georgia State University and joined the IT department as a programmer trainee in late 1984 -- a time, he says, when everyone else in the department held tech-related diplomas. "They were skeptical of my abilities in the beginning," Dallas recalls. But he proved himself to his colleagues and spent the next 20 years working up the ranks at Georgia-Pacific, moving between management jobs in IT and the business divisions. He became CIO in 2002 and retired late last year.

Changing times

CIOs must increasingly consider recruiting people like Dallas and Morris to fill their IT positions, says Bill Gilbert, managing director at Futurestep, a Korn/Ferry International company in Los Angeles that provides outsourced recruiting services.

They'll also have to be more flexible. Studies show that many baby boomers will continue to work in some capacity beyond retirement age. Many will want reduced hours and responsibilities as well as flexible schedules. Some might also want to retain their senior-level benefits, such as long vacations. "The baby boomer group is going to have a lot of different effects on what jobs look like, what retirement is," Schooley says.

IT shops are already making adjustments, because the market for workers has tightened considerably in the past year or so, says Gilbert. He expects that the competition for talent will only become fiercer as boomers retire en masse.