Cleveland CIOs Reveal Hiring Plans For First Half Of 2015

Survey Finds 18 Percent of Cleveland CIOs Plan to Expand IT Teams

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Dec 02, 2014, 08:05 ET

CLEVELAND, Dec. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The just-released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report for Cleveland shows that 18 percent of Cleveland-area chief information officers (CIOs) surveyed recently plan to expand their IT teams in the first half of 2015. This is up 7 points compared to projections from the previous six-month period (July – December 2014). Another 67 percent plan to hire only for open IT roles, 15 percent plan to put hiring plans on hold, and 1 percent expect to reduce their IT staff in the first half of the year.

Cleveland IT hiring forecast for the first half of 2015. Survey by Robert Half Technology.

Cleveland IT Hiring Forecast	July - Dec.	Jan. - June
	2014	2015*
CIOs adding more staff to IT departments	11%	18%
CIOs planning to hire only for open IT roles	75%	67%
CIOs who plan to put IT hiring plans on hold	12%	15%
CIOs who plan to reduce their IT staff	1%	1%
Don't know future hiring plans	1%	0%
*Numbers do not total 100 percent due to rounding.

View an infographic of the research findings.

"Projects that are driving IT hiring include Windows 7 deployments, as companies work to migrate off of Windows XP, as well as website customization and the development of internal applications," said Terry Phillips, Cleveland metro market manager of Robert Half Technology. "We're also seeing robust demand for desktop engineers – in particular, those who can package and distribute desktop images to multiple desktops remotely."

The 2015 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 Cleveland 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, 69 percent of Cleveland 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 software development (20 percent), security (17 percent), applications development (13 percent) and consulting and systems administration (13 percent).

Confidence in Business Growth
The survey results suggest that Cleveland CIOs are optimistic about their companies' growth. Ninety percent of CIOs reported being somewhat or very confident in their companies' prospects for growth in the first half of the year. This compares to 91 percent in the second half of 2014.

Skills in Demand
Sixty-two percent of Cleveland technology executives surveyed said that desktop support is among the skill sets in greatest demand within their IT departments. Network administration and Windows administration followed, with 59 percent and 57 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. Visitors can also request a copy of the Robert Half Technology 2015 Salary Guide, which includes a wide range of IT job descriptions.

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SOURCE Robert Half Technology