More Jobs, Better Salaries for IT Pros

Nearly three-quarters of private sector technology recruiters and hiring managers expect to add more staff in the second half of 2010, with 30 percent saying salaries are increasing for new hires, according to a new report by Dice.com.

The study, which surveyed 600 IT human resource managers and recruiters, found that 71 percent of IT respondents plan to add more staff this year. Of those planning to hire, 23 percent project they will increase hiring by 21 to 30 percent, with another 30 percent of respondents adding 11 to 20 percent, and 36 percent expecting to augment tech staffs up to 10 percent. Two-thirds of respondents indicated that they have at least one hard-to-fill position.

The battle for talent also is impacting technology paychecks, the study found, with 30 percent of respondents indicating salaries are on the rise for new hires, as compared to just nine percent who were increasing salaries just six months ago, Dice found.

Technology recruiters also indicated they want to hire technology professionals with experience. For example, most technology recruiters said they hope to hire IT professionals with six to ten years of experience, followed by two to five years and then by professionals with 10 years or more of experience. Fifty-six percent of recruiters said they do not expect voluntary departures to increase this year. Should turnover increase, however, only 29 percent of respondents said their organization has an external bench of talent that can be hired quickly for key positions.