US CIOs See Increasing Demand for IT Skills

[Train]

http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=11675

Kick ass news for IT people.

Unemployed IT workers on the West Coast of the U.S. stand the best chance of finding jobs this year, though IT professionals across the U.S. are expected to be increasingly in demand, according to the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report.

The study found that 12 percent of chief information officers (CIOs) plan to hire staff in the fourth quarter this year. That?s the highest level since the third quarter of 2002.

Even more CIOs expect to hire staff in the Pacific states, with 18 percent saying they plan to add new workers. After the Pacific states, the middle Atlantic region is also expected to produce new jobs. Sixteen percent of CIOs in the region plan to hire new workers.

The bigger hiring spike on the West Coast is due to the fact that companies there made severe cuts when the tech boom went bust. They?re now beginning to expand again and are looking for staff to support that growth, the company said.

While a growing IT sector is good news for workers, the growth presents some challenges for CIOs. An increasing number of available jobs combined with a decrease in new computer science graduates in the market means that IT workers have the upper hand in bargaining situations. Also, CIOs are faced with the challenge of employee retention as workers begin to pursue potentially better positions at other companies, the company said.

Companies in finance, insurance and real estate are likely to be the most aggressive employers during the quarter. Web and applications developers, database administrators, networking professionals and software engineers are most likely to find work.

Microsoft Windows experts are most in demand, with 81 percent of CIOs looking for Windows administrators. Fifty one percent of CIOs said they?re looking for SQL Server management. Networking is the specialty skill most in demand, with 19 percent of CIOs looking for networking specialists.

The new IT jobs will come as a result of general business growth, which is spurring new investments in technology and IT projects. Thirty-six percent of the CIOs planning to make new hires during the fourth quarter cited corporate expansion as the reason for growing their groups. Increased customer and end user support needs is spurring 21 percent of the CIOs with plans of hiring new workers to do so.

The report is published by Robert Half Technology, a staffing agency based in Menlo Park, California.

 

[phantom309]

:thumbsup:

FINALLY some good news on this forum.

 

[bamacre]

Computer sales have been through the roof lately. I enjoy this wonderful news, too.

Honestly, if it were not for high gas prices, our economy would be rolling, like a tank through Baghdad

 

[Genx87]

The wannabe's must have finally given up and went into other markets.

 

[5LiterMustang]

Too bad the curriculum at major universities is HORRIBLE! I graduated from OU and while some of us did know our stuff. The vast majority didn't even know how to remove spyware or what caused it, much less how to prevent it, protect servers/end users etc.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: 5LiterMustang
Too bad the curriculum at major universities is HORRIBLE! I graduated from OU and while some of us did know our stuff. The vast majority didn't even know how to remove spyware or what caused it, much less how to prevent it, protect servers/end users etc.

That is called working with the stuff on your own. I knew people who went through our MIS program but never played with the stuff outside of school. They had almost no clue except how to pass a test and had problems when they were put into real world situations.

 

[Darkhawk28]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: 5LiterMustang
Too bad the curriculum at major universities is HORRIBLE! I graduated from OU and while some of us did know our stuff. The vast majority didn't even know how to remove spyware or what caused it, much less how to prevent it, protect servers/end users etc.

That is called working with the stuff on your own. I knew people who went through our MIS program but never played with the stuff outside of school. They had almost no clue except how to pass a test and had problems when they were put into real world situations.

I'll go with that. Especially with computer technology, "schooling" doesn't really mean as much because the technology moves so fast.

 

[umbrella39]

Originally posted by: Genx87
The wannabe's must have finally given up and went into other markets.

QFT. While I don't think that everyone was a wannabe, some more than likely had the skills to perform the job functions, there were simply not enough jobs for the amount of people trying to get them.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: Darkhawk28

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: 5LiterMustang
Too bad the curriculum at major universities is HORRIBLE! I graduated from OU and while some of us did know our stuff. The vast majority didn't even know how to remove spyware or what caused it, much less how to prevent it, protect servers/end users etc.

That is called working with the stuff on your own. I knew people who went through our MIS program but never played with the stuff outside of school. They had almost no clue except how to pass a test and had problems when they were put into real world situations.

I'll go with that. Especially with computer technology, "schooling" doesn't really mean as much because the technology moves so fast.

Granted I am sure some of the classes can be changed to be more useful to the real world. But a lot of it is to give you a base of understanding with the expectation you will learn it on your own or be trained once you land a position.

The only class that I really ever used in real life was my DB class. I learned a lot in that class and loved every second of it. In fact it is the only class in my 5 years that I never skipped I'd skip that day but still made it to that one.

 

[Train]

Originally posted by: 5LiterMustang
Too bad the curriculum at major universities is HORRIBLE! I graduated from OU and while some of us did know our stuff. The vast majority didn't even know how to remove spyware or what caused it, much less how to prevent it, protect servers/end users etc.

I would have been severely dissapointed if my university wasted time and taught how to remove spyware. (honselty I dont think i had ever even heard of spyware when I was in college)

Most UNIV classes are to learn the concepts and theories of computer science, the part that doesnt change with time. Something as trivial as spyware removal (which I dont think a college degree should be needed to do, thats more like a helpdesk role) can change constantly, and depending on the OS, Browsers, Apps, etc.

 

[TheSlamma]

Originally posted by: umbrella39

Originally posted by: Genx87
The wannabe's must have finally given up and went into other markets.

QFT. While I don't think that everyone was a wannabe, some more than likely had the skills to perform the job functions, there were simply not enough jobs for the amount of people trying to get them.

Out of the 7 people we have gone through in the last 3 years 1 of them was actually very good, the rest were just bodies filling a position, sure they did "Fine"

But lets be honest, when you have a remodel done on your house, or transmission work done on your vehicle, do you want a "Body" or do you want someone who actually cares and knows their stuff? I don't feel like being out in the middle of I-25 during a blizzard and the "body" that fixed my tranny didn't keep my valve body clean when he put it back in.

 

[Engineer]

:thumbsup:

I agree with the "working on your own" statement. Seems too many people rely only on their "in class" education and don't know squat about the real world. A new hire engineer at our plant comes to mind. Didn't know squat about real world electrical situations, but sure used big words to describe them.

A normally closed contact on a relay became the "invterted state"! :laugh:

 

[Darkhawk28]

Originally posted by: Engineer
:thumbsup:

I agree with the "working on your own" statement. Seems too many people rely only on their "in class" education and don't know squat about the real world. A new hire engineer at our plant comes to mind. Didn't know squat about real world electrical situations, but sure used big words to describe them.

A normally closed contact on a relay became the "invterted state"! :laugh:

What is your specialty, Engineer? I've never asked you before.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: Engineer
:thumbsup:

I agree with the "working on your own" statement. Seems too many people rely only on their "in class" education and don't know squat about the real world. A new hire engineer at our plant comes to mind. Didn't know squat about real world electrical situations, but sure used big words to describe them.

A normally closed contact on a relay became the "invterted state"! :laugh:

No kidding. I am amazed looking at some of the new people who started at my work with me. They have similar degrees, but they don't know jack squat about what we are doing. I mean nothing, it's really sad. And my degree is just from a state university, nothing to write home about. But I really got involved in the area on my own, the vast majority of what I know wasn't from any of my classes.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Ah good news. Of course, those CIO's CEOs will beg Congress for more H-1B and L-1 visas. If it really is true, then you can expect throngs of laid-off people to come back to the universities for IT degrees. Obviously, I don't believe much of the report. Employers have been griping about employee shortages for a long time since they always have a shortage of good college-educated employees willing to work for $5/hour. and even if it were true, those IT jobs won't be enough to absorb all of the displaced Americans who lost or were unable to find middle class college-education-requiring jobs.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

The study found that 12 percent of chief information officers (CIOs) plan to hire staff in the fourth quarter this year. That?s the highest level since the third quarter of 2002.

...In India... I wonder what percentage are planning to lay off and fire employees this year. 12 percent seems awfully low for an allegedly healthy labor market.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Darkhawk28

Originally posted by: Engineer
:thumbsup:

I agree with the "working on your own" statement. Seems too many people rely only on their "in class" education and don't know squat about the real world. A new hire engineer at our plant comes to mind. Didn't know squat about real world electrical situations, but sure used big words to describe them.

A normally closed contact on a relay became the "invterted state"! :laugh:

What is your specialty, Engineer? I've never asked you before.

Electrical/Automation Engineer. I design, program and debug automation control systems for automative machinery. Work with all kinds of indistrial automation including PLC's (programmable logic controllers), sensors (both inductive proximity and capactive), pneumatics, hydraulics, servo drives, touchscreen interfaces, various testers (leak, force, etc), robots (<--- FUN ), data acquisition, etc.

It's one of those fields sorta hidden in EE that many don't know about. It's solid in that even with manufacturing declining, automation engineering is picking up as people are trying to automate as much as possible. This sounds bad at first in that it elimates jobs, but in reality, it actually saves jobs too. If there were no automation going on in my company, every job would be in Mexico and plants would be closed in the US. With the automation, it's some of the jobs are in Mexico, some are eliminated, and some are kept here keeping plants open (and keeping plant manager, engineer, quality, etc. people's jobs in the US going ).

 

[Darkhawk28]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: Darkhawk28

Originally posted by: Engineer
:thumbsup:

I agree with the "working on your own" statement. Seems too many people rely only on their "in class" education and don't know squat about the real world. A new hire engineer at our plant comes to mind. Didn't know squat about real world electrical situations, but sure used big words to describe them.

A normally closed contact on a relay became the "invterted state"! :laugh:

What is your specialty, Engineer? I've never asked you before.

Electrical/Automation Engineer. I design, program and debug automation control systems for automative machinery. Work with all kinds of indistrial automation including PLC's (programmable logic controllers), sensors (both inductive proximity and capactive), pneumatics, hydraulics, servo drives, touchscreen interfaces, various testers (leak, force, etc), robots (<--- FUN ), data acquisition, etc.

It's one of those fields sorta hidden in EE that many don't know about. It's solid in that even with manufacturing declining, automation engineering is picking up as people are trying to automate as much as possible. This sounds bad at first in that it elimates jobs, but in reality, it actually saves jobs too. If there were no automation going on in my company, every job would be in Mexico and plants would be closed in the US. With the automation, it's some of the jobs are in Mexico, some are eliminated, and some are kept here keeping plants open (and keeping plant manager, engineer, quality, etc. people's jobs in the US going ).

Sweet. My father was an EE with tons of PLC experience as well. :thumbsup:

When I was a teenager (years ago), I used to help him sell Mitsubishi PLC's.

 

[charrison]

been getting a decent amount of calls over the last 6 months for IT jobs. So this does not surprise me.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Darkhawk28


Sweet. My father was an EE with tons of PLC experience as well. :thumbsup:

When I was a teenager (years ago), I used to help him sell Mitsubishi PLC's.

It's really a great and rewarding job!

Oh, and it's Omron all the way here!

(Just like everything else, made somewhere else - except, as CsG says....Allen Bradley is still made in the USA (or was at one time))

 

[Darkhawk28]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: Darkhawk28


Sweet. My father was an EE with tons of PLC experience as well. :thumbsup:

When I was a teenager (years ago), I used to help him sell Mitsubishi PLC's.

It's really a great and rewarding job!

Oh, and it's Omron all the way here!

(Just like everything else, made somewhere else - except, as CsG says....Allen Bradley is still made in the USA (or was at one time))

He used to work with the AB's, but liked the "flexibility" (his words) of the Mitsubishis. He loved working with PLC's. Did contract work for Philips, U.S. Dept of Interior and a few others.

 

[imported_Condor]

Originally posted by: Genx87
The wannabe's must have finally given up and went into other markets.

Naw, they are still getting their MS Certs and pretending to know the field.

 

[dmcowen674]

About time.

Looks like enough folks have gotten tired of folks going by the name of Abraham Lincoln and couldn't help them from overseas anyway.

Hopefully the experiment at the cost of American jobs, pride and integrity is over and the execs responsible for it should be tossed out on their collective asses.

 

[Reckoner]

I'll believe it when I see it. Over 1 1/2 years out of school and I can't find a job in IT.

 

[shurato]

Stick with hardware/networking like me. You can't get an indian to do that overseas! (yet)