The just-released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report for Seattle shows that 23 percent of Seattle-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 64 percent plan to hire only for open IT roles, 10 percent plan to put hiring plans on hold, and 3 percent expect to reduce their IT staff in the first half of the year.
| Seattle IT Hiring Forecast | July – Dec. 2014 |
Jan. – June 2015 |
| CIOs adding more staff to IT departments | 16% | 23% |
| CIOs planning to hire only for open IT roles | 76% | 64% |
| CIOs who plan to put IT hiring plans on hold | 6% | 10% |
| CIOs who plan to reduce their IT staff | 2% | 3% |
| Don’t know future hiring plans | 0% | 0% |
View an infographic of the research findings.
“IT hiring activity is strongest within the professional services sector, but we’re also seeing demand in nontraditional areas such as education, where organizations are moving toward digital platforms,” said Sara Eide, Seattle regional vice president of Robert Half Technology. “Professionals with expertise in web development, Java, ASP.NET and all areas of infrastructure – help desk, desktop support, systems and networking – continue to be in high demand.”
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 Seattle 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, 65 percent of Seattle 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 networking (17 percent), software development (17 percent) and applications development (15 percent).
Confidence in Business Growth
The survey results suggest that Seattle 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-eight percent of Seattle technology executives surveyed said that network administration is among the skill sets in greatest demand within their IT departments. Desktop support and wireless network management followed, with 64 percent and 60 percent of the response, respectively. [24×7]
