CIOs Detail Hiring Plans For First Half Of 2016
A recent survey delves into the IT positions that CIOs say are in demand for the first half of the year, and finds the major cities that are most likely to win with these expansion plans.
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As the New Year kicks into gear, nearly a quarter of US CIOs surveyed say they plan to expand their information technology staff within the first six months of 2016, according to a recently released IT hiring forecast report by recruiting firm Robert Half Technology.
That level of expansion is up 3 percentage points from the same period a year ago. Plans to cut IT staff fell to 2% of CIOs surveyed, versus 3% for a comparable period a year ago.
"Organizations have spent the past few years building core technology teams that can keep pace with rapid marketplace changes, resulting in an industry that's near full-employment," John Reed, Robert Half Technology senior executive director, said in a statement. "Hiring remains steady, and there is particularly strong demand for staff and consultants to complete short-term projects, implementations and upgrades."
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Of the 2,500 CIOs surveyed in 25 major markets within the US, the greater emphasis appears to be on expanding with new hires, compared with filling only those positions that have openings. The percentage of CIOs planning to fill only open IT slots fell to 63% of those surveyed, versus 68% the same time last year.
The following slideshow not only provides the statistics on the combined hiring level for the first half of 2016, but also which positions are expected to be in demand and the top cities where IT expansion hiring is expected. Take a look and let us know what you think. Do the survey results match hiring plans at your organization?
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Eighty-five percent of CIOs surveyed said they plan to hire in the first half of 2016, with 22% planning to add more staff, said John Reed, senior executive director of Robert Half Technology, in an interview with InformationWeek. In the first half of 2015, 87% of those surveyed said they planned to expand or fill vacant positions with 19% adding more roles to their teams. There has been relatively steady growth year-over-year for technology teams in terms of adding more staff and not just filling existing vacancies across the US, he said.
Those CIOs hiring only for open roles are filling vacancies created by turnover or otherwise, while those adding to their teams are planning on bringing on additional roles or skill sets that are not currently present on their teams, Reed said. The possible reason for the 5% difference from the first half of 2016 versus the first half of 2015 (63% vs. 68%) could just be representative of tech professionals staying in their roles longer or more internal growth on tech teams, he noted.
The cities with the largest growth in hiring (Cincinnati, Charlotte, New York, and Boston) could be representative of growth in tech initiatives or new businesses moving to the area, Reed surmised. "In terms of Cincinnati and Charlotte, we are seeing some organizations migrating to high-quality cities with a strong talent base where they can capitalize on a lower-cost market," said Reed. "In New York and Boston, it can be a combination of organizations growing in historically high-demand markets with a strong concentration of progressive organizations."
Desktop support, database management, and network administration positions are all in demand due to a shortage in the number of skilled technical professionals for these roles, Reed said. The computing environment continues to become more complex, and the system demands require additional qualified technical support. It's not necessarily a lack in professionals pursuing these roles. Instead, organizations across all industries have added more of these roles to their teams due to advancements and implementations, making the need substantially greater than the number of professionals in these roles, he said.
Desktop support roles are consistently in demand within organizations due to growth in desktop and mobile technologies, and also due to the continuing trend of telecommuting, Reed said. He added that support professionals are integral to maintaining a productive workplace. Depending on experience level, help desk professional salaries start at $35,000 and go to over $77,000 per year on average. Support roles saw salary growth at about 5% on average across all skill levels between 2015 and 2016, according to Robert Half Technology's 2016 Salary Guide.
As the collection and use of data has become fundamental to the success of many organizations, database professionals help to manage the data so information can be used more strategically for business decisions and to better serve customers, according to Reed. Database management professionals are expected to see a nearly 6% increase in salaries in 2016, with average salaries starting at over $110,000, according to the 2016 Salary Guide.
Network talent is increasingly sought after as organizations' systems and networks are growing in complexity, Reed observed. On average, these professionals can expect a 5.6% salary increase this year over 2015, with salaries starting at $75,000, according to the 2016 Salary Guide.
Windows administrators are sought after to support server infrastructure, and are seeing demand across industries, Reed said. While network administrator roles start at about $75,000, Windows skills have the potential to add 4% to average salaries in 2016, according to the 2016 Salary Guide.
Windows administrators are sought after to support server infrastructure, and are seeing demand across industries, Reed said. While network administrator roles start at about $75,000, Windows skills have the potential to add 4% to average salaries in 2016, according to the 2016 Salary Guide.
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