Information technology hiring across North America is expected to take a slight downturn in the final quarter of 2013, with chief information officers in both the United States and Canada reporting their hiring practices will fall.
In the United States, 11 percent of CIOs expect to expand their IT staffs in the fourth quarter of 2013, marking a 1 percent decline from one year ago for the same time frame, according to Fierce Enterprise Communications. Additionally, 65 percent of executives will only add new staff to fill positions that are currently open, rising 9 percent from the same time last year.
However, specific disciplines seem to have better success. Talent is desired in networking, database management and technical support. More than half of all respondents said desktop support and database skills were their greatest needs.
Meanwhile, only 8 percent of Canadian CIOs said they would expand their IT staff in the fourth quarter of 2013, falling 1 percent from the previous quarter. However, 82 percent of them were confident about their companies’ prospects for growth, while 69 percent of plan to hire for open IT roles. Slightly fewer companies will put their IT hiring plans on hold as well.