Chicago CIOs Reveal Hiring Plans For Second Half Of 2014

CHICAGO, June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Thirteen percent of Chicago area technology executives recently surveyed expect to expand their IT teams in the second half of 2014, according to the just-released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report. This compares to 15 percent in the previous six-month period (January – June 2014). In addition, 77 percent plan to hire only for open IT roles, 8 percent plan to put hiring plans on hold, and none expects to reduce their IT staff in the last six months of the year.

In the same survey, 88 percent of Chicago area chief information officers (CIOs) said they are optimistic about their companies' prospects for growth in the second half of 2014, and 72 percent feel confident in their firms' plans to invest in IT projects.

"On the infrastructure side, we're seeing an increase in the demand for systems engineers and network roles, while on the development side, .NET, PHP and Java developers are seeing lots of opportunities," said Randy Wolf, Chicago regional vice president of Robert Half Technology. "With the large amount of data that organizations are collecting, we're seeing growth in the demand for database developers, as well."

The 2014 hiring projections are based on interviews with 100 CIOs who were asked to provide a six-month hiring outlook. The surveys were developed by Robert Half Technology and conducted by an independent research firm. In order to ensure that companies from all segments were represented, the sample was stratified by number of employees. The results were then weighted to reflect the proper number of employees in the greater metropolitan Chicago area. 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, 60 percent of Chicago CIOs said it's somewhat or very challenging to find skilled IT professionals today. It is most challenging to find skilled talent in the functional areas of applications development (23 percent), networking (15 percent) and software development (14 percent).

Confidence in Business Growth and IT Investments
The survey results suggest that Chicago CIOs are optimistic about their companies' growth and IT investments. Eighty-eight percent of CIOs reported being somewhat or very confident in their companies' prospects for growth in the second half of 2014. This compares to 89 percent in the first half of the year.

Seventy-two percent of CIOs also said they are confident that their firms will invest in IT projects in the second half of 2014. This compares to 68 percent in the first six months of the year.

Skills in Demand
Fifty-eight percent of Chicago technology executives surveyed said that database management is among the skill sets in greatest demand within their IT departments. Network administration and desktop support followed, with 54 percent and 49 percent of the response, respectively.

About Robert Half Technology
With more than 100 locations worldwide, Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of technology professionals for initiatives ranging from web development and multiplatform systems integration to network security and technical support. Robert Half Technology offers online job search services at rht.com. Follow Robert Half Technology at twitter.com/RobertHalfTech or visit our technology blog at blog.rht.com.

SOURCE Robert Half Technology

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