Mitch Paioff, guest columnist for IT Business Edge, recently spoke with Deborah Vazquez, CEO of PROTECH, an IT staffing firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This is the first of a three-part series of interviews with IT staffing firm CEOs.

Paioff: Over the last six to 12 months, what changes have you seen in your business?

Vazquez: Well, first of all, a little bit about our business. We have three things that we do. On the search and staffing side, we provide IT professionals for anything from a contract, contract-to-hire or a direct hire, as well as direct employment opportunities. We also offer career planning and transition services to IT professionals, and that is for people that need help beyond the typical hour or so that we will spend with them in an interview situation for a particular opening. We do things like help them with their resumes, with their positioning, and preparing them for interviews.

We also produce professional video resumes for them, which is an area that’s kind of the leading edge right now. Not a lot of people are using those, but many people are good candidates for video resumes if they have a good professional presentation and good communication skills. It’s a good way for them to differentiate themselves from other candidates.

Back to your question. During the last six to 12 months, we have seen our business pretty much flip flop from being direct hire driven to contract driven. We’ve seen direct hire opportunities really dry up.

Many companies are just not willing to bring in full-time employees. Fortunately, we’ve seen our contract business more than make up for that. So it’s a complete reversal. A year ago, 47 percent of our business was contract, and 53 percent was direct hire. Right now, we’re looking at 70 percent or more that is contract, and less than 30 percent is direct hire. Two years ago, it was exactly the opposite of that, with 70 percent direct hire and 30 percent contract.

So when you go through these market cycles in a recessionary state, typically companies still have IT work that needs to be done. Many will hire contractors in lieu of direct hire employees until their budgets become more available for that type of hire.

Paioff: Which IT skill sets are in the greatest demand?

Vazquez: We are seeing demand for very highly specialized skill sets. One area is quality assurance testers with in-depth knowledge in a particular area. It might be for Web testing, or for knowledge in a particular industry. Clients are being very demanding right now and very selective in terms of who they hire. They really want all the bells and whistles. Some are looking for business analysts, EDI experts, or ERP specialists. We are seeing some demand in the health care IT arena.

There is also some demand for project managers. We are seeing a little bit of activity, although it’s really dried up quite a bit, in C-level positions (CIOs, CEOs, and CEOs).

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