Wednesday, July 16, 2008

IT Hiring Expected to Continue at Healthy Pace for Second Half of 2008

The hiring outlook for IT employees remains positive for the second half of 2008, as 35 percent of IT employers are planning to increase the number of full-time, permanent employees from July through December; the highest among all industries surveyed. The CareerBuilder.com Midyear Employment Forecast was conducted from May 22 through June 13, 2008.

Looking forward, IT employees are keeping their options open. Twenty percent of employees reported they were actively looking for a new job. But, of those not actively looking for a job, 85 percent stated they would be open to a new one if they came across the right opportunity.

The shortage of qualified IT talent may be impacting company’s bottom lines as well, as nearly one-third of employers (31 percent) are hanging on to employees that may not be performing at optimal levels in order to keep desks occupied.

One of the ways IT employers are appealing to in-demand workers is by increasing employee salaries. Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of IT hiring managers say the average change in salary will be 5 percent or more in the second half of 2008 compared to the first half of the year.

While increases in salaries by IT employers is a step in the right direction (53 percent of IT workers say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their pay), there are other areas that are of concern to IT workers. They include:

--38 percent of IT workers describe their workload as heavy or too heavy
--23 percent of IT workers are dissatisfied with their career progress
--23 percent of IT workers are dissatisfied with their work/life balance

More information on the service and support industry can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com

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