March 03, 2009, 2:59 PM — Eight percent of CIOs anticipate adding IT personnel in the second quarter of 2009 and 6 percent plan staff reductions in the next three months, according to the latest Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report. The net 2 percent hiring increase compares with a net 8 percent increase projected last quarter. The majority of respondents, 83 percent, plan to maintain current staffing levels.
Key findings:
- Help desk/technical support and networking are the job areas experiencing the most growth.
- Desktop support is the technical skill set most in demand, overtaking network administration, which led as the top skill for the past two quarters.
- One in five IT executives who plan to add staff will hire a mix of full-time and contract workers.
- Reduced IT budgets were cited as the primary factor for reductions in IT personnel.
- CIOs in the Mountain region1 are most optimistic about hiring activity.
Skills in demand:
- 67 percent of CIOs cited desktop support.
- Network administration (LAN, WAN) and Windows administration followed closely, with 65 percent and 64 percent of the response, respectively.
- Help desk/technical support and networking tied as the job areas experiencing the most growth, each cited by 15 percent of CIOs.
- Internet/intranet development received 10 percent of the response.
(Note: CIOs were allowed multiple responses.)
