IT Employment Trends 2009

IT Employment Trends 2009

© 2009 Robert Half Technology. An Equal Opportunity Employer

Dave WillmerExecutive Director

TECNA | March 19, 2009 | Baltimore, MD

R

obert Half International– Founded in 1948

– Pioneer in specialized staffing services

– Fortune 500, FORTUNE® World’s Most Admired Company (March

16, 2009)

R

obert Half Technology– Provides highly skilled IT professionals

– Conducts ongoing research on IT workplace trends

– Respected resource on IT hiring and employment

Company Overview

Today’s Discussion

•T

he IT Hiring Environment

•T

echnical Skills in Demand Q2 2009

•S

oft Skills in Demand

•S

taffing During a Downturn

•T

he Benefits of Flexible Staffing

•Y

our Leading Resource

The IT Hiring Environment

•Today’s IT departments face complex challenges

•Economic conditions requiring firms to operate more efficiently and achieve more with fewer resources

•Strategically deployed IT systems and personnel can help a company accomplish these goals

•Companies need staff in technical development and programming that can result in cost savings

It’s Still Difficult to Find Good IT People

*Source: Robert Half Technology survey of 1,400 CIOs, Oct. 2008

Despite a more cautious

economy, demand remains

for skilled IT professionals

•Pockets of opportunity exist in key specialties

•Rising workloads greatest source of workplace stress for IT professionals*

•Many talented people unwilling to risk leaving a stable job for an untested opportunity

Unemployment RatesF

eb. 2009: U.S. 8.1% CAN 7.7%

U.S. Q4 2008: 6.1%

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Q4 2008 Unemployment Rates for Select Technology Positions:

Computer software engineers: 1.9%

Computer support specialists: 2.2%

Computer and information systems managers: 2.7%

Network and computer systems administrators: 3.5%

Computer scientists and systems analysts: 3%

Network systems and data communications analysts: 3.6%

Database administrators: 5.4%

Computer programmers: 6.1%

The IT Hiring Environment

T

he current hiring climate can also be attributed to:

– Increasing complexity of IT

– Demographic trends

– Ongoing software updates, hardware maintenance

The IT Hiring Environment Q2 2009 (U.S.)

•Companies still hiring in IT; majority plan to maintain current staffing levels

•Corporate growth, IT department expansion, increased workloads and systems upgrades primary reasons for hiring

•Help desk/technical support and networking are the job areas experiencing the most growth

•Desktop support is the technical skill set most in demand, overtaking network administration, which led as the top skill for the past two quarters

•Reduced IT budgets were cited as the primary factor for reductions in IT personnel

Source: Robert Half Technology Q2 2009 IT Hiring Index & Skills Report, Survey of 1,400 CIOs in the United States, March 2009

Regional and Industry Outlook

•Technology executives in the Mountain states anticipate the most active hiring

– Net 10 percent increase is eight points above the national average

•The New England and West North Central regions also anticipate hiring gains, each forecasting a net 5 percent increase

•CIOs in the business services and professional services sectors are most optimistic about hiring in the second quarter

Source: Robert Half Technology Q2 2009 IT Hiring Index & Skills Report, Survey of 1,400 CIOs in the United States, March 2009

The IT Hiring Environment Q2 2009 (Canada)

•12 percent of CIOs polled plan to hire; 4 percent anticipate staff reductions

•Half of CIOs cited increased workloads as the primary factor driving hiring demand

•Help desk/technical support and data/database management are the job areas experiencing the most growth

•Desktop support is the technical skill set most in demand

•Companywide layoffs cited by more than half of executives as primary reason for reductions in personnel

•CIOs in the professional services and wholesale sectors are most optimistic about hiring in Q2

Source: Robert Half Technology Q2 2009 IT Hiring Index & Skills Report, Survey of 270 CIOs in Canada, March 2009

Q: “Which of the following technical

skill sets are most in demand within

your IT department?”

Technical Skills in Demand Q2 2009

Source: Robert Half Technology survey of 1,400 CIOs from U.S. companies with more than 100 employees. CIOs were allowed multiple responses.

Soft Skills in Demand

I

t’s not just about the technology

•L

eadership abilities

•C

ustomer-service mindset

•A

bility to work under pressure

•W

ritten and verbal communication skills

•A

bility to align business and IT goals

CIO Planned Investments 2009

Source: Robert Half Technology survey of 1,400 CIOs, Q2 2009

Information security43%

28% Virtualization

27% Data center efficiency

26% Voice over Internet Protocol

20% Green IT

19% Business Intelligence

17% Web 2.0

26% Software as a Service (SaaS) 16% Outsourcing

18% Social networking technology

Virtualization Web 2.0 All Microsoft Products

Citrix

ESXi

GSX

Hyper-V

VMware ESX 3.5

VMware Workstation

XenServer

PHP

Perl

AJAX

Flash

Flex

Silverlight

Python

Ruby on Rails

Active Directory®

Dynamics

Exchange Server 2007

MS Business Solutions

Office 2007

SharePoint®

SQL Server® 2008

Vista

Visual Studio®

Windows Server® 2008

.NET

Current Need For …

Most Valuable

Skills

Stimulus Creating New IT Jobs in Healthcare

•U.S. economic stimulus package will create thousands of information technology and healthcare-related projects– $20 billion for electronic medical records (EMR) conversions

and upgrades– The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation:

One million full-time and consulting jobs to support these projects

•HIPAA Privacy Rule and Electronic Health Information Exchange in a Networked Environment

Staffing During a Downturn

•Many companies closely examining fixed personnel costs, one of their largest areas of spending

•Many firms downsizing

The Challenge: How do you maintain the

staff levels you need to keep productivity

and service levels high while, at the same

time, keeping personnel costs in check?

The Last Recession

•Before the last recession, many firms overhired

•When the Internet bubble burst, they had to lay off staff

•Laying off full-time workers was the only way to reduce human resources costs

The Solution: Flexible Staffing

Responding to Staffing Challenges

Source: Robert Half Technology survey of 159 CIOs from U.S. and Canadian companies with more than 100 employees that plan to add staff in Q2 2009. CIOs were allowed multiple responses.

• Most CIOs who plan to add staff will hire full-time personnel

• 21 percent expect to hire a mix of full-time and project workers

• 11 percent will rely on contract or project workers

Flexible Staffing Means Cost-Effective Staffing

Traditional staffing Cost-effective staffingThink “job.” Think tasks and responsibilities that are directly tied to business

goals and enhance the company’s ability to compete.

Create a set of job specifications. Determine which competencies and skills are necessary to produce outstanding performance in any particular function.

Look mainly for technical competence.

Find people who are technically qualified but also have the soft skills and other competencies needed to support the company’s mission and values.

Base the hiring decision primarily on the interview.

View the interview as only one of a series of tools to make the best hire.

Hire only full-time employees. Consider a blend of full-time and project workers to meet variable workload needs.

Start from scratch when hiring candidates for full-time positions.

Use contract-to-full-time arrangements to observe job candidates and evaluate their readiness to assume ongoing responsibilities firsthand.

The Benefits of Flexible Staffing

The use of contingent workers is saving companies a bundle ─ typically 17% of their total expense base.

─ Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2008 Staffing Buyers Survey

“”

Flexible Staffing in the News …

Financial Woes Spur Some

Short-term Hiring

CFO

February 25, 2009

GM closes 21 factories and cuts 70,000 jobs

Contract Work Fuels Rise in Tech Job

Posting

CNETFebruary 12, 2009

Growing Trend of

Temporary Executives

ABC 7 News

March 4, 2009

Use of Contract Talent in U.S.

Organizations Has Grown Significantly in

Recent Years; Trend Likely to Continue

The Human Capital Institute

January 21, 2009

Why Do Firms Use Temporary Workers?Chicago Fed LetterMarch 1, 2009

Flexible Staffing in the News …

Financial Woes Spur Some

Short-term Hiring

CFO

February 25, 2009

GM closes 21 factories and cuts 70,000 jobs

Contract Work Fuels Rise in Tech Job

Posting

CNETFebruary 12, 2009

Growing Trend of

Temporary Executives

ABC 7 News

March 4, 2009

Use of Contract Talent in U.S.

Organizations Has Grown Significantly in

Recent Years; Trend Likely to Continue

The Human Capital Institute

January 21, 2009

Why Do Firms Use Temporary Workers?Chicago Fed LetterMarch 1, 2009

Flexible Staffing: Case Studies

Source: CFO.com, Feb. 25, 2009

“If you bring them in through a temp agency … in the long term it’s much more cost effective.”

– CFO, privately held beverage maker

“Instead of hiring new permanent employees, we are bringing in temps to handle specific ad-hoc projects.” – CFO, nonprofit community development financial institution

“The flexibility of temporary staffing … allows us to have options and choices with how we allocate our fixed and variable costs, while providing our clients with the service and expertise they require, when they need it.” – VP of operations, telecommunications management services firm

Your Leading Resource

The annual Salary Guide

Glossary of Job Descriptions for Information Technology

Hiring Smart Keeping Your Best People

The 30 Most Common Mistakes Managers Make in an Uncertain Economy

What Millennial Workers Want: How to Attract and Retain Gen Y Workers …and more

• Additional information on hiring, retention and staff management issues

• Complimentary publications include:

© Robert Half Technology. An Equal Opportunity Employer © 2009 Robert Half Technology. An Equal Opportunity Employer

IT Employment Trends 2009

Dave WillmerExecutive Director

TECNA | March 19, 2009 | Baltimore, MD