IT Market Making Slow Recovery

By Mike Sachoff
Staff Writer
Article Date: 2010-09-07

In today's economy many CTOs and human resource professionals continue to be required to do more with less and will not be able to restore budgets and head count to pre-recession levels, according to a new survey by Gartner.

The survey found that the recovery in jobs was in short-term, temporary contractor positions more than in permanent staff positions.

"These survey results continue to show a slow job market with organizations being cautious about increasing staff levels, leading to fewer new hires and more vacancies left unfilled," said Lily Mok, vice president at Gartner.

"While we expect hiring activities to slowly pick up over the next 12 to 18 months as market conditions improve, we think it is unlikely that many IT organizations will return to their pre-recession staffing levels."

The level of difficulty in filling job vacancies is a good indicator of the strength of the employment market. The survey showed a weaker job market than a year ago, as reflected in fewer organizations reporting significant difficulties in filling vacancies during the last 12-month period. The overall average number of months to fill selected jobs also dropped, from 3.3 months in the 2009 study to 2.8 months this year.

"Despite the fact that there was some level of ease in hiring during the last 12 months, IT organizations continued to face challenges in finding quality candidates for a number of jobs," said Ms. Mok.

"Even though there may be more people available to hire in the market, they don't necessarily have the right skills for the available jobs."

The impact of the downturn on the job market continues to linger well after the initial round of layoffs. Reflecting employees' fear of market uncertainties, the median IT voluntary turnover rate (with retirements) during the last 12-month period dropped to a record low of 3.0 percent.

"The voluntary turnover rate will not stay at the current low level for the long term. As more organizations resume hiring, employees will re-evaluate their current job situation, and contemplate and entertain external opportunities that may become available. The employee groups at higher risk for turnover are the high performers and individuals with high in-demand or critical skills," said Diane Berry, managing vice president at Gartner.

About the Author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.