Survey: There will be IT jobs this quarter, just not too many

IT departments across the country likely won't do much hiring this quarter, but also won't be making any significant cuts to their staffing levels, according to a survey conducted by Robert Half Technology, an IT staffing company.

The survey of 1,400 CIOs across the U.S. found that 83 percent have no staffing reductions or additions planned for the current quarter. Only eight percent said they had plans to do any hiring for their IT departments while 6 percent said staffing reductions are on the way.

The 2 percent net gain for the IT workforce, while still a gain, is down from a net 8 percent increase in jobs last quarter.

Some interesting bullet points from the report:

• Of those reducing their workforces, 40 percent cited reduced IT budgets while 21 percent blamed the impact of the financial crisis on their company or industry.
• Of those hiring, 21 percent said they planned to add a mix of full-time and project workers while 8 percent said they planned to add contract workers and about 25 percent said corporate growth was fueling their hiring demand.
• The CIOs said desktop support was the most in-demand technical skill set, with Network administration and Windows administration close behind.
• Both help desk/technical support and networking were noted as the job areas experiencing the most growth.
• The business services and professional services sectors were the most optimistic about hiring.