Half of retail CIOs feel the pinch of heavier workloads

Retail CIOs are feeling a heavier workload, reports a new survey from Robert Half Technology, a staffing company. When asked “How has the workload of your IT staff changed in the last 12 months?” 50% said they had experienced an increase, with 19% characterizing the increase as significant and 31% as somewhat. 44% said there had been no change and 6% reported a decrease.

The numbers are close to a cross-industry sampling of 1,414 CIOs: 20% of all CIOs in the survey said the increase was significant, 35% said somewhat, 38% said no change, 6% said decrease and 1% didn’t know/didn’t answer.

Of the 1414 CIOs, 137 were from the retail industry.

Among retail CIOs who reported an increase, 49% attributed it to new projects. 41% to corporate expansion, 5% to decreased staff size and 5% to other. Again, the retail responses weren’t too far off from all CIOs polled: 46% said new projects, 36%, corporate expansion, 9% reduced staff, 8% other, 1%, don’t know/no answer.

Of the 805 CIOs who were asked the follow-up question, 68 were from the retail sector.

"Many companies that postponed hardware and software upgrades to save costs are now faced with a business need to move forward with these projects," said Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology. "A number of the systems purchased during the technology boom of the late nineties, for example, are nearing the end of their lifecycle and must be updated or replaced."