Recruiters are not afraid to smile and shake their jazz hands about full time technology job openings they need to fill next year. Is it rainbows with gold pots in 2011? Well, let’s not overstate the facts.
Hiring will occur in technology in 2011, but the movement to rent and lease technology skills has never been so ingrained a practice than in the past two years, and it will continue to grow. Trends in technology contracting and freelance are here to stay, though one report centered on full-time hiring finds developers, project managers and business analysts will have demand.
Indeed, 86 percent of 435 recruiters responsible for hiring technology jobs are planning to hire technology talent in 2011, according to a December Technisource-Monster.com report. The majority–56 percent–will be adding less than 10 employees with 37 percent hiring between 11 and 50 workers. Eight percent will be hiring 50 or more technology workers.
The good news is nearly one-third of the hiring is for new positions, with more than 62 percent claiming they will be both replacement and new positions.
“Economic conditions that led to hiring freezes, technology cuts and migration delays across the last 18 months are now starting to reverse and companies are beginning to increase spending to remain competitive or regain a lost competitive advantage,” said Michael Winwood, president of Technisource, in a statement. “The most important factor in doing this still and will always remain a company’s internal staff.”
What skills are the hottest? Here is a breakdown of recruiting sentiment (from the Technisource/Monster survey, which was done between late September, early October where multiple answers were allowed):
- Applications: 71 percent
- Project Management: 56 percent
- Infrastructure: 50 percent
- Business Analysts: 41 percent
- ERP: 19 percent
- Telecom: 12 percent
“While it is difficult to make any definitive forecasts from a single survey, the data in this report seems to suggest that we can anticipate increased technology hiring and perceived strength in corporations-which bodes well for a strong and much-anticipated rebound,” said Winwood.