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By Mel Duvall
The job outlook for IT professionals is improving as companies once again look to invest in new revenue generation initiatives, according to a survey by the CompTIA industry association.
In its latest Industry Business Confidence Index survey, CompTIA found that after a big jump in December, overall confidence actually experienced a slight dip in March, falling from 56.6 points to 54. However, on a forward-looking basis, CompTIA says the outlook appears to be strong, particularly in relation to the overall U.S. economy.
Over the next six months, 53 percent of IT companies expect to shift more resources to initiatives associated with revenue generation, such as investments in research and development, new product lines, or efforts to enter new vertical markets.
"This leading indicator, which is expected to increase about six points over the next six months, suggests IT companies expect continued sales growth to materialize," Tim Herbert, CompTIA vice president of research, said in a statement.
In conjunction with that renewed optimism, CompTIA found that 30 percent of the companies surveyed expect to increase staffing levels over the next six months. That was tempered by the fact that 18 percent of companies are still expecting to reduce staff. However, the result is still a net positive of 12 percent. CompTIA noted that it follows on top of a December 2009 survey which found a net positive 14 percent of companies planning to increase staffing.
Herbert said that a number of economic indicators continue to point to a fragile recovery. Unemployment remains high, lending is tight and consumers and businesses are hesitant to spend.
"With perceived recovery momentum comes rising expectations that business activity follows soon thereafter," he said. "If it doesn't happen, confidence can weaken."
The smallest companies -- those with $1 million or less in annual revenues -- are feeling the most concern about the state of the economy. In the "what keeps IT executives up at night" category, firms voiced concern over a number of issues, including a stalled recovery, weak consumer demand, a general lack of confidence and government regulation.
The latest CompTIA survey was conducted in the first two weeks of March from a sample of 336 U.S.-based IT companies.
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