What Economic Growth Means for the Nation's IT Sector By CIOReview Team

What Economic Growth Means for the Nation's IT Sector

CIOReview Team | Wednesday, 21 January 2015, 04:17 IST

  •  No Image

According to CNN, 2014 was the best year for job growth in the United States since 1999. The national unemployment rate stood at just 5.8%, a full 7% less than the nation’s unemployment rate in 2013. Bloomberg Businessweek predicts that the economy will continue to facilitate job growth in 2015, citing an IMF study that forecasts the U.S. job market to create 3.1% more jobs over the course of the year. While the economy’s growth is certainly good news for job seekers across the board, experts believe that positions in the Information Technology field will be in higher demand than most.

Anthony Curlo, CEO of IT Recruiting and Staff Augmentation firm, DaVinciTek, stated that “The IT industry as a whole has experienced remarkable growth within the last decade, actually growing faster than the number of qualified professionals available to fill positions. This current shortage of IT talent combined with our strengthening economy presents talented IT professionals with exceptional opportunities to not only find positions, but positions that pay well.” According to research conducted by Robert Half, salaries for newly-hired IT professionals are expected to increase 5.7% in 2015.

It's not just tech companies that have heightened the demand for IT talent though. As Curlo noted, many of the companies his firm partners with don’t specialize in information technology products or services, but rather depend on qualified experts to lead their internal IT operations. The rise in corporate budget allocations for IT, up 3.2% since last year, is a reflection of technology’s increasingly integral role in maintaining competitive operations.

According to DaVinciTek:

- Job seekers should be open to various opportunities and position titles as they search for jobs, and should be willing to explore all offers, rather than take the first one that comes their way.
- Jobs in the mobile IT sector are particularly in high-demand. IT professionals with experience developing mobile applications can expect to find jobs rather easily in this market.
- Companies seeking IT professionals should be ready to make competitive offers; strong candidates will likely have multiple options, so the terms of an offer should not appear to undervalue the candidate’s talent.
- For those working towards an IT degree, consider specializing in specific IT positions projected to still be in high demand in 3-5 years, such as business analysts and cloud computing software engineers. For those still considering a degree in IT, know that the industry is predicated to continue to grow until at least 2020.

CIO Viewpoint

Accept Data as an Entity on Balance sheet

By Akshey Gupta, Chief Data Officer, Bandhan Bank

Technology Forecast And Concern In 2020

By Anil Kumar Ranjan, Head IT, Macawber Beekay Private Limited

Data Analytics For Enhanced Productivity And...

By Krishnakumar Madhavan, Head IT, KLA

CXO Insights

Data-Driven Predictive Technologies

By Pankaj Parimal, Head of Launch & Change Management, Hella Automotive Mexico, S.A. de C.V., Mexico, North America.

5 Mantras That Can Drive Organizations Towards...

By Ilangovel Thulasimani, Co-Founder & CTO, Practically

Facebook