As technology keeps evolving over time, so does the need to have talent to support this evolution. As we’ve seen with many industries over the past year, there is a shortage of skilled talent and this is especially true for the technology industry.
gorodenkoff / iStock / Getty Images Plus
According to new survey findings, released by Robert Half Technology, 63% of companies plan to expand their tech teams in 2019, but unfortunately staffing challenges still exist, finds Robert Half Technology’s State of U.S. Tech Hiring research. For 63% of IT hiring decision makers, their main priority for the year ahead is to hire skilled, full-time employees. However, 87% of those surveyed said it’s challenging for their company to find skilled IT professionals.
Respondents cited the following skills as immediately needed for their organizations:
- Cybersecurity
- Cloud security
- Cloud computing
- Cloud architecture
- Business intelligence and reporting services
- Database management
- Virtualization
- Web development/design*
- Mobile development*
*Denotes a tie.
Almost all respondents (95%) said they will bring on project professionals to support their teams in the first 6 months of the new year. In addition, 90% of IT leaders said they are upskilling or training current employees on in-demand technology skills.
“Along with a strong core team, project professionals are becoming an integral part of organizations’ staffing strategies to get the best and brightest on board quickly for key projects,” said John Reed, executive vice president of Robert Half—in a press release announcing the findings. “Digital and security initiatives continue to put pressure on IT departments, adding to the need for talent.”
Reed adds, “Training and upskilling team members, especially for the most critical skills, helps keep the business competitive and demonstrates your commitment to employees’ professional growth.”
Additional Findings
- Nearly all IT leaders (97%) noted they are confident in their company’s prospects for growth in the first half of 2019.
- Besides recruitment, maintaining security, innovation, investing in new technologies, and cloud projects will be top priorities for tech managers in the first 6 months of the new year.
- Cloud computing is the top skill employers are currently training their IT teams on, followed by security, project management, data science, and machine learning/artificial intelligence.
Hiring plans remain robust across the map. The table below shows percentages of technology managers from 28 U.S. cities who expect to add to their teams in the first half of 2019.
|
Rank |
U.S. City |
% of Tech |
|
1 |
Houston, TX |
80% |
|
2 |
Charlotte, NC |
77% |
|
3 |
Phoenix, AZ |
76% |
|
4 |
Chicago, IL* |
75% |
|
4 |
Dallas, TX* |
75% |
|
6 |
Miami, FL |
74% |
|
7 |
Washington, D.C. |
73% |
|
8 |
Nashville, TN* |
72% |
|
8 |
St. Louis, MO* |
72% |
|
10 |
New York, NY* |
71% |
|
10 |
Seattle, WA* |
71% |
|
12 |
Cleveland, OH* |
70% |
|
12 |
Philadelphia, PA* |
70% |
|
14 |
Denver, CO* |
69% |
|
14 |
Los Angeles, CA* |
69% |
|
16 |
Detroit, MI |
68% |
|
17 |
Boston, MA* |
64% |
|
17 |
Pittsburgh, PA* |
64% |
|
17 |
Raleigh, NC* |
64% |
|
17 |
San Francisco, CA* |
64% |
|
21 |
Salt Lake City, UT |
63% |
|
22 |
Cincinnati, OH* |
62% |
|
22 |
Indianapolis, IN* |
62% |
|
24 |
Austin, TX* |
59% |
|
24 |
Des Moines, IA* |
59% |
|
26 |
Minneapolis, MN* |
56% |
|
26 |
San Diego, CA* |
56% |
|
28 |
Atlanta, GA |
52% |