The market for information technology professionals in retailing will pick up slightly this year, says RHI Consulting’s latest Information Technology Hiring Index. RHI reports that in the third quarter, 12% of retail CIOs expect to increase their IT staffs, while 2% expect to decrease. The remaining 86% expect no change.
CIOs as a whole expect a net 13% increase in hiring: 16% expect to increase their staffs while 3% expect to decrease.
The national poll includes responses from more than 1,400 CIOs at U.S. companies with 100 or more employees. It was conducted by an independent research firm and developed by RHI Consulting, a provider of information technology professionals on a project and full-time basis.
"While the overall hiring climate remains conservative, some businesses are pursuing IT projects that were previously placed on hold and are hiring additional technology staff accordingly," said Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of RHI Consulting. "Systems upgrades and web initiatives have become higher priorities as companies work to increase their competitiveness through greater efficiencies, enhanced security and improved client service."
Lee added that businesses are carefully assessing their personnel requirements before hiring full-time IT employees. "Many firms are relying on consultants to assist with expanded workloads until they're certain they have a long-term need for permanent staff," she said.
CIOs in the finance/ insurance/real estate sector are most optimistic about hiring in the third quarter; 21% of technology executives plan to add personnel and 2% percent expect cutbacks, for a net hiring increase of 19%.
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