DETROIT — The Detroit area’s chief information officers are ramping up hiring in their IT departments, according to the latest IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report released Friday by Robert Half Technology, the tech staffing firm.
Twenty-three percent of the Detroit area’s CIOs plan to add more staff to their IT departments between July and December, according to the survey. That’s up from 18 percent who said they planned to do so in the last survey, which covered January to June 2015, and 15 percent in the survey before that, which covered July to December 2014.
Another 61 percent said they planned to hire only for open IT jobs, down from 71 percent in the prior survey and 74 percent in the survey before that.
Only 1 percent said they plan to cut their IT staff, unchanged from the previous survey.
The other 15 percent said they either didn’t know their hiring plans or had put their hiring plans on hold.
“The market is tight for top IT talent in Detroit, especially for professionals with expertise in SQL development, database reporting and .Net development,” said Jeremy Brodsky, Detroit branch manager for Robert Half Technology. “It’s a very exciting time for IT professionals in Detroit right now, as we’re seeing the emergence of more high-tech companies. There’s also been a recent tech surge within the automotive industry and the industries that directly or indirectly service it.”
Recruiting still remains a challenge, as 49 percent of CIOs said it’s somewhat or very challenging to find skilled IT professionals today. They also revealed the skills in greatest demand within their organizations:
* Database management (52 percent)
* Desktop support (51 percent)
* Wireless network management (50 percent)
* Telecommunications support (50 percent)
Also, 73 percent of survey respondents said they are taking action to address recruiting challenges for IT staff. The following is a breakdown of the steps they are taking:
* Increasing networking activities (51 percent)
* Using recruiters or staffing firms (46 percent)
* Offering referral bonuses (38 percent)
* Hiring consultants to augment current staff (38 percent)
More at www.rht.com. Visitors can also request a copy of the Robert Half Technology 2015 Salary Guide, which includes a wide range of IT job descriptions.
Robert Half interviews more than 2,500 CIOs nationwide from 25 major markets to produce its reports.
