Information technology hiring in the private sector is projected to increase in early 2011, according to a new report by Robert Half.
The Robert Half Professional Employment Report, which is based in part on interviews with more than 1,400 chief information officers, found that 84 percent of executives expect no change in IT hiring in the first quarter of 2011. Eleven percent of executives plan to increase their IT hiring in the first quarter of 2011, however, while 3 percent plan to decrease IT hiring. The net 8 percent increase in anticipated hiring is five points above the previous quarter's forecast and three points above the national average projected for all professions, Half noted.
In addition, the survey shows that the federal government is not the only sector faced with the challenge of finding skilled IT professionals. Among the four career fields surveyed for the report - accounting and finance, advertising and marketing, technology and legal - technology executives indicated the greatest challenge in finding skilled IT professionals, with 54 percent indicating it was "very challenging" and 51 percent noting it was "somewhat challenging."
CIOs also noted that the most in-demand positions in 2011 will be network administrators, Windows administrators, and help desk and desktop support professionals. Health care, professional services and manufacturing will be the top industries for IT jobs, according to the report.
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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