Eleven percent of chief information officers (CIOs) surveyed for the Robert Half Technology "IT Hiring Index and Skills Report" expect to add staff in the fourth quarter of 2008 and 3 percent forecast personnel reductions. The net 8 percent increase compares with a net 10 percent increase projected last quarter. The majority of respondents, 83 percent, plan to maintain current staffing levels.
The IT Hiring Index and Skills Report is based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CIOs from companies across the United States with 100 or more employees. It was conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis.
Key findings include:
* Increased customer and/or end-user support was cited as the leading reason for Information Technology (IT) hiring, replacing business growth, which had been named by CIOs as the primary driver of IT hiring in each of the past 22 quarters.
* Help desk/technical support was cited as the job area experiencing the most growth.
* Firms in the Middle Atlantic1 region are most optimistic about IT hiring.
* Technology executives in the transportation industry forecast the strongest hiring activity.
