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Up until a few years ago, the average tenure for a CIO in most Fortune 2000 organizations was about 3 years. For some IT leaders, the duration was much shorter.

How things have changed.

To be sure, there are still varying lengths of service for CIOs and these are influenced by different circumstances. Some CEOs and boards look for CIOs who are turnaround experts. Other corporate leaders seek CIOs who have a proven expertise in a particular area, like having steered one or more successful ERP implementations. Meanwhile, some seasoned IT leaders have fashioned themselves into ‘CIOs for Hire’ where they fill an organization’s need for a specific period of time and then move on. In most of these cases, these are shorter-term or at least defined engagements.

But talk to any number of CIOs at large, publicly-held companies about how long they’ve been in their roles and their answer these days is frequently in the five years-plus range. According to SearchCIO.com’s annual salary and careers survey of 873 senior IT leaders, the average tenure for high-level IT executives is now 6.3 years. In fact, the study found that twenty percent of IT leaders have held the same jobs for more than ten years. Meanwhile, the 2009 annual survey of CIOs by the Society for Information Management places the current occupancy rates of CIOs at 4.6 years.

Compare these figures to the current tenure of CEOs or CFOs. Nearly as many CEOs left or were forced out of their jobs in 2008 alone (1,484) than in the ten years since Chicago-based executive recruitment firm Challenger Gray & Christmas began tracking CEO turnover in 1999. Meanwhile, an April 2009 study by The KPMG 404 Institute found that 36% of Fortune 1000 CFOs had held their positions for less than two years.

Certainly the economic downturn, coupled with questionable risk management decisions (or lack thereof) and shareholder angst have helped keep the revolving door spinning for CEOs and CFOs over the past 18-to-24 months. Yet, to some degree, economic pressures have helped keep many CIOs in their posts longer. There are at least a few reasons for this.

During the post 9/11 recession, many CEOs opted to keep their management teams intact, including their CIOs, in order to help them orchestrate and execute upon long-term strategies. In some cases, those CIOs are still in place today, often representing the longest gigs of their respective careers. Some of the same trends have played out during the present slump.

Towards the end of 2009, many executive recruiters said they were beginning to see an uptick in CIO recruitment and placement – meaning more churn. Signs of an economic uptick could bode well for CIOs who are looking for new opportunities. But it’s nice to see that a growing number of CIOs are finally finding more stability in their employment.

Comments (2)

	1. 01-12-2010 22:45
	It is good news to see CIOs staying in their roles for longer terms. I think it is very much connected to the economic cycle. During the dot com era, CIOs were highly courted and it was common to see them hopping from one gig to another. A few CIOs made their fortunes, while many others lost it with the dot com crash. After the bubble burst, I think CIOs became much more cautious and hence, the longer terms. Registered

Mel Duvall

	2. 01-13-2010 23:18
	This is very positive, especially for the members of the IT organizations under these CIOs who can benefit from an extended period of consistent leadership. I am very interested to see if this trend toward CIO longevity accelerates the trend of CIOs taking on other C-level roles in an organization; one would think that the familiarity gained by being a tenured CIO would be an asset in such a transition. Registered

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