IT Hiring Outlook Improves Along With The Economy

Rising economic tides appear to be lifting IT hiring boats across the U.S. according to the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report, released Wednesday.

The executive recruitment firm said it had an independent research firm poll 1,400 CIOs in several cities and found that the national average of CIOs who said they plan to hire IT professionals in the second quarter was 8 percent.

"Now that economic conditions have improved, many companies have the budgets to initiate new IT projects and require additional staff to support these efforts," said Katherine Spencer Lee, the firm's executive director, in a statement. "Competition is rising for professionals skilled in the hottest applications and specialties, and multiple offers are increasingly common."

Increased hiring expectations by CIOs ranged from 16 percent in the Los Angeles to 2 percent in the Detroit region. A sampling of other cities and net hiring expectations by CIOs includes Houston, 14 percent; Dallas/Forth Worth, 13 percent; Denver, 12 percent; Miami, 11 percent; Chicago, 9 percent; Minneapolis, 9 percent; Boston, 8 percent; and New York City, 8 percent.

As an example, Robert Half noted that while 19 percent of the CIOs in Los Angeles said they plan to add staff, 3 percent plan reductions, for a net percent hiring increase of 16. The increase, the firm said, is up 4 percentage points from the last quarter.