St. Louis CIOs Reveal Hiring Plans for First Half of 2015

Survey Finds 16 Percent of St. Louis CIOs Plan to Expand IT Teams

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Dec 02, 2014, 08:05 ET

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The just-released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report for St. Louis shows that 16 percent of St. Louis-area chief information officers (CIOs) surveyed recently plan to expand their IT teams in the first half of 2015. This is up 5 points compared to projections from the previous six-month period (July – December 2014). Another 75 percent plan to hire only for open IT roles, 8 percent plan to put hiring plans on hold, and 1 percent expect to reduce their IT staff in the first half of the year.

St. Louis IT Hiring Forecast - First Half of 2015

St. Louis IT Hiring Forecast	July – Dec.	Jan. – June
	2014	2015*
CIOs adding more staff to IT departments	11%	16%
CIOs planning to hire only for open IT roles	82%	75%
CIOs who plan to put IT hiring plans on hold	5%	8%
CIOs who plan to reduce their IT staff	1%	1%
Don't know future hiring plans	1%	1%

*Numbers do not total 100 percent due to rounding.

View an infographic of the research findings.

"Right now, online and mobile skills are in particularly high demand as website rebuilds and app development projects are on the rise," said Joe McIntyre, St. Louis regional vice president of Robert Half Technology. "The top sectors for IT job opportunities in St. Louis are healthcare, financial services and insurance."

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 St. Louis 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, 73 percent of St. Louis 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 (19 percent), networking (17 percent) and applications development (13 percent).

Confidence in Business Growth
The survey results suggest that St. Louis CIOs are optimistic about their companies' growth. Ninety-seven 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 95 percent in the second half of 2014.

Skills in Demand
Sixty-five percent of St. Louis technology executives surveyed said that network administration is among the skill sets in greatest demand within their IT departments. Desktop support and database management followed, with 63 percent and 60 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