Treat your IT workers right or they may go elsewhere. At least that's what two recent studies suggest. Survey results show that 58% of nearly 1,000 IT workers responding are seeking new jobs. The survey, conducted by Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Computing Technology Industry Association Inc. (CompTIA), cites the desire for higher pay as the No. 1 reason IT workers are looking elsewhere for work.
Nearly two-thirds of IT workers responding also say they want more opportunities for advancement, while 58% say they're looking for a new challenge.
More than half of the IT professionals who say they're looking for a new job have been with their current employers for three or more years, and 52% have been in their current job role for at least three years.
"Tech workers who stayed put in their jobs over several years of uncertainty in our industry are clearly looking to move on now that we're in a period of growth," states Neill Hopkins, vice president of skills development for CompTIA.
Meanwhile, survey results (see chart below) released by Robert Half Technology, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based IT hiring firm, show 13% of more than 1,400 chief information officers polled plan to add IT staff in the fourth quarter of 2006, while only 3% are planning cutbacks.
"Ongoing competition for IT professionals, particularly those with hard-to-find skill sets and specialized expertise, is prompting many companies to devote greater resources to recruitment and retention efforts," notes Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology.
Where The IT Jobs Are
The Robert Half IT Hiring Index and Skills Report shows a higher percentage of firms that expect to increase their hiring of IT professionals than those that are planning IT-worker cutbacks, while the majority of companies expect no change.
| Expected IT Hiring in U.S. For 4Q 2006 | ||||
| Increase(%) | Decrease(%) | No Change(%) | Don't Know(%) | |
| Nationwide | 13 | 3 | 82 | 2 |
| New England | 7 | 7 | 89 | 2 |
| Mid-Atlantic | 11 | 5 | 82 | 2 |
| South Atlantic | 11 | 5 | 82 | 3 |
| East N. Central | 11 | 1 | 85 | 0 |
| West N. Central | 10 | 2 | 87 | 1 |
| East S. Central | 23 | 1 | 74 | 2 |
| West S. Central | 14 | 5 | 81 | 0 |
| Mountain | 21 | 0 | 78 | 1 |
| Pacific | 17 | 3 | 77 | 3 |
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