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Robert Half Technology sees businesses across the board adding to their information technology ranks in the first quarter.
Continued strong demand for information technology workers is expected in the first quarter of 2008, according to the latest quarterly survey of chief information officers by staffing firm Robert Half Technology.
Thirteen percent of the 1,400 CIOs polled by the company said they plan to add workers in the first three months of next year, while 3% said they expected to trim their staff size, for a net increase in IT jobs of 10%.
However, the percentage of CIOs who said they plan to boost headcount is down a percentage point from last quarter and off 3% from the same period a year ago.
Does this portend a softness in IT hiring?
Not likely, says Brian Gabrielson, Robert Half's national practice director. "There's been a bit of nervousness because of market conditions," he says in reference to the current housing slump and credit squeeze, "but we continue to see strong growth."
Interestingly, Robert Half Technology found that IT hiring was expected to increase at insurance, finance and real-estate firms. As a group, 19% of the CIOs in the category expected to add workers, compared with 17% last quarter. And the group is now the second most active IT hirer, behind only the business services sector. "They're looking to IT to help them weather the storm," says Gabrielson, especially in the use of information technology to cut costs and increase efficiencies. "A great sign for future IT hiring."
Indeed, he says, the ongoing shortage of skilled IT workers should keep demand high. The survey found—as has been the case for several quarters - that Windows administration, network administration, database management, firewall administration, and wireless network management continue to be the top five skills employers are seeking.
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