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By John McCormick
The biggest test in managing an IT staff is finding enough skilled professionals, according to a survey released today by Robert Half Technology.
The staffing firm asked CIOs what their greatest IT staffing challenge was and nearly one in four, 24%, said it was attracting good people. The challenge is even bigger at bigger companies. Twenty-seven percent of the CIOs in firms with more than 1,000 employees said attracting staff was their biggest HR hurdle.
The No. 2 challenge for all CIOs was providing staffers with adequate professional development resources to keep their skills current, which was followed by the challenge of keeping employees productive.
"The need for experienced IT staff has grown in recent years as a result of increased investments by companies in new and updated systems and software," said Robert Half Technology executive director Katherine Spencer Lee in a statement. "In areas such as Web development, database management, wireless networking and applications engineering, the supply of qualified professionals has not kept pace with the demand, leading to multiple job offers for candidates with the right mix of skills and experience."
Robert Half Technology based its findings on a survey of 1,400 CIOs from a random sample of U.S. companies with 100 or more employees.
Top Hiring Hurdles
| Challenge |
% Responding |
Finding skilled technology professionals | 24% |
Providing staff with adequate professional development resources to keep skills current | 23% | | Keeping employees productive | 17% | | Dealing with personality conflicts between employees | 11% | | Developing defined career paths for IT staff members | 10% | | None/don't know | 10% | | Other | 5% | |
Source: Robert Half Technology
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