CIOs largely upbeat, plan to hire more IT workers in Q4

Twelve percent of chief information officers plan to hire more technology professionals in the fourth quarter and 6 percent are expecting to cut back, according to Robert Half, a staffing firm.

The Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index shows a two percent gain from the previous quarter. The survey is based on interviews with 1,400 CIOs with 100 or more employees. The hiring plans reflect full-time employees.

Based on the Robert Half data, CIOs are confident about their companies’ prospects even as evidence mounts that the economy is slowing. To wit:

• 92 percent of CIOs are confident in their companies' growth prospects in the next quarter, up 5 points from three months ago.
• 88 percent are confident that their companies will invest in fourth quarter IT projects.
• 66 percent of CIOs said there was a skills shortage and finding talent was difficult, up 18 points from a quarter ago.
• 18 percent of CIOs said it was most challenging finding security experts and another 17 percent cited difficult hiring in networking. Database management and help desk workers were also cited by 11 percent of CIOs as skills in demand.
• Mid-Atlantic states were hiring the most IT workers in the fourth quarter with a net 13 percent of CIOs adding staff.
• Transportation companies were hiring the most IT workers.

Fortunately for CIOs, their hiring plans seem to line up with CFOs, who also plan on adding staff.