CIOs Reveal Third-Quarter Hiring Plans

Twelve percent of U.S. chief information officers (CIOs) interviewed recently expect to expand their IT teams in the third quarter of 2013, according to the just-released RobertHalf Technology IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report. This compares to 14 percent in the previous quarter. In addition, 56 percent plan to hire for open IT roles, 26 percent expect to put hiring plans on hold, and 6 percent plan to reduce their IT staff in the third quarter.

In the same survey, 85 percent of CIOs said they were somewhat or very confident about their companies' prospects for growth in the third quarter, and 63 percent felt somewhat or very confident in their firms' third-quarter investment in IT projects.

U.S. IT Hiring Forecast	Q2	Q3
CIOs planning to add more staff to IT departments	14%	12%
CIOs planning to hire only for open IT roles	61%	56%
CIOs planning to put IT hiring plans on hold	22%	26%
CIOs planning to reduce their IT staff	2%	6%
Don't know future hiring plans	1%	1%

*Numbers do not total 100 percent due to rounding.

The IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report survey was developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of information technology professionals on a project and full-time basis, and conducted by an independent research firm. The survey is based on more than 2,300 telephone interviews with CIOs from a random sample of U.S. companies in 23 major metro areas with 100 or more employees. Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis and has been tracking IT hiring activity in the United States since 1995.

Recruiting Challenges
In terms of recruiting, 69 percent of CIOs said it's somewhat or very challenging to find skilled IT professionals today. It is most difficult to find skilled talent in the functional areas of networking (18 percent), data/database management (14 percent) and help desk/technical support (13 percent).

Confidence in Business Growth and IT Investments
The survey results suggest that CIOs are optimistic about their companies' growth and IT investments: Eighty-five percent reported being somewhat or very confident in their companies' prospects for growth in the third quarter of 2013.

Sixty-three percent of CIOs also said they were somewhat or very confident that their firms would invest in IT projects in the third quarter of 2013.

Skills in Demand
Among the technology executives surveyed, 55 percent said that network administration and database management were the skill sets in greatest demand within their IT department. Desktop support followed closely, with 54 percent of the response.

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