10 IT Hiring Plans For Second Half Of 2016
While CIOs say they expect to see a slight dip in IT hiring plans for the last six months of this year, according to recent survey results, one tech recruiter says the outlook appears positive. Here's a closer look at CIO hiring plans for the remaining months of 2016, including layoffs, the most in-demand IT skills, and the hottest regions.
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As we enter the second half of 2016, CIOs surveyed say they expect to slightly curtail hiring plans compared to the first half of the year and the same time a year ago, according to the recently released results of an IT hiring forecast report by recruiting firm Robert Half Technology.
Of the 2,500 CIOs from 25 major US markets surveyed, 84% of respondents said they expect to hire technology workers. The percentage is down slightly from 85% in the first half of the year, according to the report. Compared to the second half of the year of 2015, the percentage was down 5 points from the 89% who indicated they planned to hire tech workers.
"While there is a slight shift year-over-year, it is still an incredibly positive outlook for technology talent," John Reed, senior executive director for Robert Half Technology, told InformationWeek. "Tech talent is still in demand to build and maintain technology projects within organizations. Leaders are looking to grow their data initiatives, strengthening security strategies and expanding web and mobile projects, and [they] will need the talent to implement and maintain these endeavors."
Reed added that there were a number of years when IT hiring faced incredibly rapid growth, as organizations began to get into digital, security, mobile, and big data projects, and needed to launch them off the ground.
[See 10 CIO Career Trends That May Surprise You.]
But with more IT teams becoming established, CIOs are making laser-focused strategic hires, and they're looking to snap up specialized talent. In looking toward 2017, Robert Half Technology, which has been tracking IT hiring since 1995, said it expects hiring activity to be strong as technology advances, Reed said.
CIOs also described the current hiring environment as very competitive, with a total of 61% saying it was still challenging to find skilled IT professionals, according to the survey.
Here's a look at CIO hiring plans for the second half of this year, including the most in-demand IT skills, layoffs, hiring freezes, how many plan to implement layoffs, and what the hottest cities are to land a tech job, according to the survey results.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Which of these findings match up to what the direction of the tech leadership in your company?
While leaders have spent the past few years building out their teams and adding employees at a particularly rapid pace in order to get initiatives up and running, they are now looking to add strategic full-time hires to manage the systems, processes, and changes they've spent so much time implementing, Reed noted.
During the recession, IT hiring was substantially different. Robert Half Technology, which used to do quarterly surveys, found that only 14% of CIOs planned to hire in the third quarter of 2008, and only 11% of them did in the fourth quarter. Then in 2009, that dropped down to 8% in the third quarter and 6% in the fourth. By the time 2010 rolled around, IT hiring picked up slightly to 10% in the third quarter and 9% in the fourth.
Although the percentage of CIOs who plan to add staff and expand their IT departments fell by one percentage point from the first half of this year, Reed noted that healthcare, finance, and technology companies continue to hire. He added that this hiring is happening across the board -- from small and midsize businesses to large enterprises.
There was no change to the percentage of respondents who said they were only going to fill open roles from the first half of this year compared to the second half of this year. However, in the second half of last year, 67% of CIOs surveyed said they expected to fill open roles, which was four percentage points higher than this year for the same period.
But Reed said there is no need for concern. "This change in hiring only for open roles is pretty minimal year-over-year, so while there was a slight change from this time last year, it still reflects positively for technology jobs for the remainder of 2016," said Reed.
In the second half of this year, 13% of CIOs surveyed indicated they plan to put hiring plans on hold. That is flat compared to the first half of the year, but up by four percentage points from the same time last year.
"Many technology leaders put hiring plans on hold, when they are preparing for changes, upgrades, and implementations," Reed said. "As more security, cloud, and mobile projects begin, not only will leaders start reviewing infrastructure and budget, but they will also assess their teams and make hiring plans accordingly."
According to the report, 3% of CIOs who responded to the survey indicated they planned to cut their IT staff. That was up one percentage point from the first half-year report, as well as from last year's second half, when 2% of CIOs said they planned to initiate layoffs.
"The one point increase in plans to reduce staff is not extremely significant and is not cause for concern," Reed said. "These numbers can and tend to fluctuate a point or two. While there may be small shifts in plans, demand is still strong for technology professionals."
Within a CIO's organization, network administration came in at No. 1 among the top three IT skills that are in demand, according to the survey. "The computing environment is becoming increasingly complex; therefore, the demand for skilled networking professionals has increased as organizations seek to optimize their network performance," Reed said. He added that as firms continue to invest in technology they require skilled networking professionals who can ensure that a firm's infrastructure, from hardware, to software, to wireless, is fully functional.
"Support roles tend to remain on top of leaders' lists, when we ask about what skills are in demand within their departments. As companies implement new technologies, customer-facing and end-user-facing roles also remain critical," Reed explained. "We're seeing demand from our clients for help desk and desktop support people. Growing trends like bring your own device and bring your own cloud can also increase the demand for support professionals."
Desktop support skills came in at No. 2 among the top three in-demand IT skills within respondents' organizations.
Database management, as well as desktop support and network administration, also made the list of the top three in demand IT skills in the CIO survey for the first half of the year. In explaining the continued demand for database management skills, Reed said that workers with these skills tend to help plan and implement databases to meet business needs, and that they are a valuable asset to organizations.
Database management came in at No. 3 among the top three in-demand IT skills within respondents' organizations for the second half of 2016.
In a multiple-choice questionnaire, three major Midwest markets were ranked as the top three regions where CIOs surveyed were most optimistic about expanding the size of their IT teams. Minneapolis, Minn., landed the No. 1 spot, with 29% of CIOs looking to beef up their IT departments in that city. Indianapolis, Ind., was next, with 27%, and Detroit, Mich., came in third, with 26%.
"Within these markets, the healthcare, financial services, and technology industries, in particular, are expanding technology projects, which is adding to the need for talent," explained Reed. "As markets on the East and West Coasts continue their war for talent, more organizations are looking at less expensive markets as alternative recruiting areas where compensation levels may be less and competition for technology talent may not be as fierce."
Two East Coast regions captured the No. 4 and No. 5 spot for markets most in demand by CIOs looking to expand their IT operations. Raleigh, N.C., received a thumbs-up from 24% of CIO survey participants, while Washington, D.C., secured 23%. Healthcare and financial service organizations are adding to the need for technology talent in Raleigh, while a growth in cloud, network, and web initiatives are adding to hiring in Washington, D.C., especially in government, technology, and the nonprofit sector, according to Reed.
Two East Coast regions captured the No. 4 and No. 5 spot for markets most in demand by CIOs looking to expand their IT operations. Raleigh, N.C., received a thumbs-up from 24% of CIO survey participants, while Washington, D.C., secured 23%. Healthcare and financial service organizations are adding to the need for technology talent in Raleigh, while a growth in cloud, network, and web initiatives are adding to hiring in Washington, D.C., especially in government, technology, and the nonprofit sector, according to Reed.
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