Are IT Managers Tapping the Brakes on Hiring?

IT hiring managers seems to be a bit hesitant in their hiring plans for the third quarter, according to a new report from Robert Half Technology.

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Based on more than 2,300 phone interviews with CIOs, it found just 12 percent plan to expand their IT departments in Q3. That compares with 14 percent who said so for the previous quarter. Those planning to hire only for open roles, however, dipped to 56 percent from 61 percent. Yet the number planning to put IT projects on hold grew from 22 percent to 26 percent.

That stands in contrast to analysts who offered upbeat takes on the IT job market in February. David Foote, chief analyst at Foote Partners, pointed to strength and momentum in the IT employment marketplace, while Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco Associates, called the hiring momentum, “robust enough to be called a boom.”

He said CIOs were focusing on the near-term demands to hire proven managers and get plans in place for more robust hiring in the summer and fall.

Other tidbits from the Robert Half survey:

• 85 percent reported being somewhat or very confident in their companies’ prospects for growth in the third quarter.
• 63 percent said they were somewhat or very confident that their companies would invest in IT projects in the third quarter.
• 69 percent said it’s somewhat or very challenging to find the skilled talent they need.
• They reported the most difficult skills to find were in networking (18 percent), data/database management (14 percent) and help desk/technical support (13 percent).