Detroit CIO Hiring Plans Flat
MENLO PARK, Calif. -- The just-released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report for Detroit shows that 11 percent of Detroit-area chief information officers surveyed recently plan to expand their teams. This is up one point from the previous quarter's projections.
Another 60 percent plan to hire only to fill open IT roles, 22 percent plan to put hiring plans on hold, and 6 percent expect to reduce their IT staff in the third quarter.
A quarter ago, 63 percent said they would hire only for open IT roles, 23 percent said they plan to put IT hiring plans on hold, and 1 percent planned to reduce their IT staff.
"We are seeing demand for IT professionals in a number of sectors, including high-tech manufacturing, finance and insurance," said Stacey Singleton, Detroit regional vice president of Robert Half Technology. "Some of the most active hiring is for applications developers, systems and network administrators, and those with help desk expertise."
The IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report results reflect a two-quarter rolling average based on interviews with 200 CIOs from a stratified random sample of companies in the Detroit area with 100 or more employees.
The survey was developed by Robert Half Technology and conducted by an independent research firm. In order for the study to ensure that companies from all segments were represented, the sample was stratified by number of employees. The results were then weighted to reflect the proper number of employees in the greater metropolitan Detroit area.
Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis and has been tracking IT hiring activity in the United States since 1995.
Sixty-two percent of Detroit CIOs said it's somewhat or very challenging to find skilled IT professionals today. It is most challenging to find skilled talent in the functional areas of networking (14 percent), security (14 percent) and applications development (13 percent).
The survey results suggest that Detroit CIOs are optimistic about their companies' growth and IT investments. Eighty-seven percent of CIOs reported being somewhat or very confident in their companies' prospects for growth in the third quarter of 2013. This compares to 90 percent in the previous quarter.
Sixty-eight percent of CIOs also said they were confident that their firms would invest in IT projects in the third quarter of 2013. This compares to 77 percent in the previous quarter.
Sixty percent of Detroit technology executives surveyed said that desktop support is among the skill sets in greatest demand within their IT departments. Database management and network administration followed, with 59 percent and 56 percent of the response, respectively.
More at www.rht.com.
