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IT Job Market Stagnates in May
Analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data for May, released Friday by consulting firm Janco Associates, showed that few improvements occurred last month in the overall U.S. IT job market.
Janco found several sectors trending down when comparing April's IT employment data with the May results. For instance, "telecommunications" and "data processing and hosting" were the hardest hit job segments in the IT market, showing losses of 200 jobs and 700 jobs, respectively, in May. However, the IT market showed a net gain of 200 seasonally adjusted jobs in the same period, mostly due to improvements in the "computer system design and related services" sector. There was no recorded change in jobs classified under the "other information services" umbrella, according to Janco's analysis.
Janco attributed the poor overall performance in U.S. IT jobs to the state of the U.S. economy as a whole. Nationally, the total job market added fewer new jobs in May (69,000) than in April (115,000) this year. With few individuals leaving their current jobs, and unemployment rates topping 10 percent in states such as California and Nevada, national hiring rates are flagging. This climate is affecting CIO decision-making with regard to bringing on new staff members, according to the consulting firm.
"In telephone interviews in late May of 107 U.S.-based CIOs, we found that most have some short-term needs that are of a 'temporary' nature," said Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis, in a released statement. "CIOs are continuing to keep the overall full-time equivalent headcounts level and do not see any increase in permanent staffing within the next several months."
According to Janulaitis, 20 percent of surveyed CIOs are looking to hire contractors and consultants to meet their companies' staffing needs, especially in the area of mobile computing. He also noted that the bring-your-own-device, or BYOD, trend is gaining popularity among CIOs, who may require assistance in implementing a framework for such devices in their workplaces.
Summing up his firm's findings, Janulaitis said: "There had been some hope that the job market had turned the corner and that confidence was going to be high. That is not the case…CFOs and CIOs are cautious at best."
About the Author
Katrina Carrasco is the associate group managing editor for the 1105 Enterprise Computing Group. She can be reached at [email protected].