IT Hiring 2013, 6 Month Checkup

 

Maybe you’re one of those people who read the forecasts from the various sources at the beginning of each year. Maybe you even make plans to respond to what you learn.

 But do you ever go back to check to see if the forecasts were right?

 Here’s a forecast (in PDF format) by CareerBuilder at the beginning of 2013 based on a survey they did of employers/hiring managers.

Staying Power . . . Let’s look at the 2013 forecast after 6 months. It says that IT workers are comfortable in their jobs, more than any other industry in fact. According to the CareerBuilder survey:

• 72% of workers currently in IT report being satisfied with their job vs. 15% planning to switch jobs in the coming year
• 75% of employers plan to increase compensation for existing employees
• 54% of employers plan to offer higher starting salaries for new IT employees 

That was good news back at the beginning of the year. It made you feel safer that you would not lose good people. But what have you experienced in six months? Did you lose anyone that was a high-performer? Did the raises occur in your organization?

Beware Poachers! . . . Also in the study was a statistic that said 27% of hiring managers plan to recruit full-time, permanent employees for IT, second only to that of sales workers.  According to the CareerBuilder survey:

• 19% of workers reported that, even though they did not make the first move, they have been approached to work for another company
• 52% of employers plan to hire temporary and contract workers in 2013

Well that was bad news for you as a project manager. They might try to poach your workers! Did you have this problem? Have any of your people been poached? Perhaps lured by a new business or high growth at an organization elsewhere? Perhaps lured by higher salaries?

A more recent survey reports that there remains a positive outlook from information technology hiring managers for the next quarter. If you need additional workers, you may find some unwelcome competition. Also, if competing organizations (for workers, that is) are raising their salaries and your organization is not, your workers may be at risk.