Is Your IT Department Understaffed?

Nearly half of chief information officers from companies across the U.S. believe their IT departments are understaffed in relation to current workloads, according to a new survey by Robert Half Technology.

The survey, which was based on interviews with more than 1,400 CIOs at companies with 100 or more employees, found that 43 percent of CIOs believe their IT departments are very or somewhat understaffed in relation to current workloads. Fifty-three percent of CIOs said they had the appropriate level of staff to complete IT projects.

The survey did not indicate what issues could be contributing to understaffed IT departments, such as a lack of qualified applicants for IT jobs, increased work demands, or hiring/budgetary freezes.

While the survey did not tap into the views of federal IT executives, the findings may still have some significance, especially as new demands, including the new open government directive, fall into the hands of agency IT workers. Is your agency's IT department understaffed in relation to current workloads? What issues or challenges are contributing to the staff shortage?