Chief Information Officers expect a slight increase in IT staff hiring in the first quarter of 2002, according to a recent survey.
RHI Consulting’s Information Technology Hiring Index found that 18 per cent of executives surveyed said their companies plan to add IT staff. Only four per cent said they anticipate personnel reductions.
The net 14 per cent increase is up two percentage points from the prior quarter’s forecast, although it remains four points below the forecast from the same time last year.
Companies are choosing to keep employment levels constant and are adopting a more strategic approach to their staffing decisions, says Stephen Mill, senior regional manager of RHI Consulting in Toronto.
Technology executives in the professional services industry are the most optimistic about hiring activity – twenty-six per cent of CIOs said they expect to add IT personnel and none anticipate reductions, for a net 26 per cent hiring increase during the first three months of the year. CIOs in the business services and retail industries also anticipate growth, with respective net hiring increases of 21 per cent and 14 per cent.
The national poll includes responses from more than 270 CIOs taken from a random sample of Canadian companies with 100 or more employees.
