IT Hiring Increase Unchanged from Second Quarter

Private-sector IT hiring will remain slightly up over the next three months, with a net increase of 2 percent -- basically unchanged from last quarter, according to the latest Robert Half Technology Hiring Index and Skills Report. The report -- based on telephone interviews with CIOs of 1,400 companies -- found that:

• CIOs in the transportation, communications and utilities sector are most optimistic about hiring.
• Staff-level technology professionals are in greatest demand.
• Reduced IT budgets remain the leading reason for staff reductions.
• When hiring full-time staff, 88 percent) plan to recruit IT professionals at the staff level (up to five years of experience) 20 percent said they plan to hire at the manager, senior manager or director level.
• Thirty percent of executives cited the increased need for customer/end-user support as the primary factor driving hiring demand, followed by rising workloads at 27 percent. Technology executives expecting to decrease staff in the third quarter said the top reason is reduced IT budgets, with 41 percent of the response. Thirty-seven percent cited companywide layoffs, and 14 percent said new IT projects are being put on hold.
• Seventy-three percent of CIOs report that network administration (LAN, WAN) is the technical skill set most in demand in their IT departments. Desktop support received 69 percent of the response, followed closely by Windows administration (Server 2000/2003), at 68 percent.
• When asked which job area is experiencing the most growth, technology executives ranked networking first, with 16 percent of the response. Help desk and technical support was cited by 15 percent of CIOs, followed by applications development, at 11 percent.