Mar 01, 2005
Source: CIO.com Research Reports.
http://www2.cio.com/research/surveyreport.cfm?ID=84

By Lorraine Cosgrove Ware

Executive Summary

CIOs seek project management, communication skills and business acumen in addition to IT skills and many are concerned that their own organization will experience an IT management shortage in the next five to ten years. Hoping to head off the potential management problem, IT executives are currently seeking these skills and forty percent are actively hiring in the next three months.

Key Findings

Business Skills in Demand
CIOs report that the top non-technical skills they need included project management (64%), specific business/business process knowledge/company knowledge (50%) and communication skills (43%). When asked if they are hiring these skills currently, one-quarter of those surveyed are hiring currently and 15 percent will hire within three months. Thirteen percent will hire in twelve months and forty-one percent said they did not know when they would hire these skills.

Some Skills Remain Hard to Find
When asked which skills were lacking in today's job candidates, CIOs listed business (55%), communication (46%) and project management skills (46%). Additionally, 15 percent of CIOs in our survey say that they are extremely concerned and 25 percent are very concerned that their organization will experience a shortage of IT managers in the next five to ten years. One-third of IT executives are somewhat concerned and 21 percent were not overly concerned. Six percent said they were not at all concerned.

Open Job Reqs Creep Up
CIOs report that on average, they have 17 open positions on their staff currently. That's more than double the number of requisitions reported in mid-2003 (seven open positions on average) and January 2002 (six open positions on average). Turnover rates are also up. IT executives report an average turnover rate of ten percent. In July 2003, CIOs reported an average turnover rate of five percent. Only 22 percent of CIOs reported layoffs of IT staff in the past six months.

Methodology

CIO 's survey on IT staffing was administered online from January 1 through January 31, 2005. Visitors to CIO.com and readers of the CIO Insider electronic newsletter were invited to take the survey. Results shown here are based on the responses of 214 IT professionals. (Not all respondents answered all questions.)

Survey respondents represented a range of industries including computer-related (14 percent), manufacturing (12 percent), government (12 percent), medical/dental/
healthcare (10 percent), and finance/banking/accounting (9 percent) and insurance/real estate/legal (7 percent).

In terms of title, 33 percent of the survey respondents were CIOs, CTOs or vice presidents in charge of IT. Others were directors or managers of IT (56 percent), and IT staff or consultants (10 percent). Ninety-four percent of respondents had hiring responsibilities.

Twenty-eight percent of the survey base worked at companies with fewer than 500 employees. Thirty-six percent were from companies with 500 to 5,000 employees and 32 percent worked in companies with more than 5,000 employees. (Four percent did not answer the question.)

When asked about company revenue, 34 percent reported annual company revenue of less than $100 million, and 26 percent reported revenue between $100 million and $999.9 million. The remaining 32 percent reported company revenue greater than $1 billion. (Seven percent did not answer the question.)

Survey Data

Which title best describes your level of responsibility?

Do you have management or hiring responsibility?

How would you describe current staffing environment/condition?

How would you describe the stress level among your IT staff?

What workforce management strategies are you employing to deal with/make the most of your current staffing environment?

What technical skills are most in demand in your IT organization currently?

Is your IT department actively hiring staff with these technical skills:

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