IT Hiring Market Report - December 2010 The Dice IT Hiring Market Report is a roundup of news related to technology hiring, compiled from various sources by the Dice Editorial Staff.
.As hiring in the sector picks up, Forbes advises IT workers to negotiate for the salary they want. "If you've gotten a job offer, you're already in a position of power," the magazine says. Meanwhile, larger companies are allowing employees to change career tracks without changing companies. In the interests of retention, they've made the corporate ladder look more like a lattice, enabling employees to move up, move laterally, or even move down if it suits their lifestyle. Cautious Optimism for 2011 A rebound in tech hiring may well be coming next year, albeit a cautious one. IT professionals who can help companies grow and increase their efficiency will in highest demand, predicts Robert Half Technology. Meanwhile, TechServe Alliance says IT employment rose to more than 3.9 million workers in October. That's an increase of 2.2 percent year-over-year, which stacks up pretty well compared to the 0.6 percent rise in total non-farm employment. Also in 2011, business technology trends will focus on more powerful networks and mobile devices; data centers that support increasingly dynamic cloud computing; and semi-autonomous machines that can call for service or replenish inventories without human intervention. And, says Verizon – which published the list of trends – CIOs will rethink their ideas on how to take a more strategic approach to technology. Local Markets Silicon Valley heavyweights are looking to Seattle as they seek to offset the tough competition for talent at home. California-based companies like Facebook, Zynga, Salesforce.com and Hulu are establishing engineering branches in the region to attract professionals in the region. October's jump in IT hiring in Santa Clara County helped push the unemployment rate down to 10.6 percent, according to the State of California. Meanwhile, the San Jose metro region had more jobs than it did a year earlier for the second month in a row. Over the last 12 months, some 3,600 positions were added in the professional and business services area alone. In Atlanta, tech skills most in demand include developers for Drupal and other content management systems, PHP and Flash. Also needed are data warehousing/business intelligence experts and, of course, security professionals. Florida's economic recovery will depend on building its high-tech sector, says TD Economics. The firm says technical, transportation, scientific and professional services will expand to meet increased demand from newly developed high-tech clusters – potentially creating more than 22,000 jobs annually for each of the next five years. Seven out of the top 26 fastest growing occupations in South Carolina are in IT, but many firms in the state continue to have difficulty filling open positions.
.As hiring in the sector picks up, Forbes advises IT workers to negotiate for the salary they want. "If you've gotten a job offer, you're already in a position of power," the magazine says. Meanwhile, larger companies are allowing employees to change career tracks without changing companies. In the interests of retention, they've made the corporate ladder look more like a lattice, enabling employees to move up, move laterally, or even move down if it suits their lifestyle. Cautious Optimism for 2011 A rebound in tech hiring may well be coming next year, albeit a cautious one. IT professionals who can help companies grow and increase their efficiency will in highest demand, predicts Robert Half Technology. Meanwhile, TechServe Alliance says IT employment rose to more than 3.9 million workers in October. That's an increase of 2.2 percent year-over-year, which stacks up pretty well compared to the 0.6 percent rise in total non-farm employment. Also in 2011, business technology trends will focus on more powerful networks and mobile devices; data centers that support increasingly dynamic cloud computing; and semi-autonomous machines that can call for service or replenish inventories without human intervention. And, says Verizon – which published the list of trends – CIOs will rethink their ideas on how to take a more strategic approach to technology. Local Markets Silicon Valley heavyweights are looking to Seattle as they seek to offset the tough competition for talent at home. California-based companies like Facebook, Zynga, Salesforce.com and Hulu are establishing engineering branches in the region to attract professionals in the region. October's jump in IT hiring in Santa Clara County helped push the unemployment rate down to 10.6 percent, according to the State of California. Meanwhile, the San Jose metro region had more jobs than it did a year earlier for the second month in a row. Over the last 12 months, some 3,600 positions were added in the professional and business services area alone. In Atlanta, tech skills most in demand include developers for Drupal and other content management systems, PHP and Flash. Also needed are data warehousing/business intelligence experts and, of course, security professionals. Florida's economic recovery will depend on building its high-tech sector, says TD Economics. The firm says technical, transportation, scientific and professional services will expand to meet increased demand from newly developed high-tech clusters – potentially creating more than 22,000 jobs annually for each of the next five years. Seven out of the top 26 fastest growing occupations in South Carolina are in IT, but many firms in the state continue to have difficulty filling open positions.