Detroit Area CIOs Have Robust Hiring Plans
DETROIT (WWJ) -- Eighty percent of chief information officers in the Detroit area plan to hire IT professionals in the first half of 2014, either to expand or fill vacant positions.
That's according to the IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report from the IT staffing firm Robert Half Technology.
The figure is 7 percentage points higher than results from the previous six months, which came in at 73 percent.
Among CIOs, 12 percent plan to expand their IT teams in the first half of 2014. That's up 2 percentage points from the 10 percent of CIOs who planned to do so in the final six months of 2013.
Another 63 percent of CIOs plan to hire only for open IT positions. And 20 percent plan to put all hiring plans on hold, up from 17 percent in the prior period. Just 6 percent plan to cut their IT staff, but that's up from 3 percent in the prior period. (Figures may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding.)
"The new year often brings new projects, and as a result, companies may be looking to grow their core IT teams at this time of year," said Stacey Singleton, Detroit regional vice president of Robert Half Technology. "We anticipate that web developers, system administrators and help desk professionals will continue to be in high demand in the next few months, especially in the manufacturing and healthcare sectors."
The 2014 hiring projections are based on interviews with 100 CIOs who were asked to provide a six-month hiring outlook. The 2013 projections are based on an average of two separate CIO surveys conducted in the second and third quarters of 2013.
In each of these surveys, 100 CIOs were asked about their hiring plans for the next three months. The surveys were developed by Robert Half Technology and conducted by an independent research firm.
In order 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.
In terms of recruiting, 67 percent of Detroit CIOs said it's somewhat or very challenging to find skilled IT professionals today. CIOs responded that It is most challenging to find skilled talent in the functional areas of networking (21 percent), help desk and technical support (21 percent), and security (13 percent).
The survey results suggest that Detroit CIOs are optimistic about their companies' growth and IT investments. Ninety-two percent of CIOs reported being somewhat or very confident in their companies' prospects for growth in the first six months of 2014. This compares to 87 percent in the last half of 2013.
Seventy-six percent of CIOs also said they are confident that their firms will invest in IT projects in the first half of 2014. This compares to 64 percent in the last six months of 2013.
Sixty-six percent of Detroit technology executives surveyed said that network administration is among the skill sets in greatest demand within their IT departments. Windows administration and desktop support followed, with 54 percent and 51 percent of the response, respectively.
Robert Half Technology offers online job search services at www.rht.com. Visitors can also request a copy of the Robert Half Technology 2014 Salary Guide, which includes a wide range of IT job descriptions.
