Janco and eJobDescription find that hiring stalls
The entire job market in the US did increased by 96,000 jobs in August, but troubling was the fall in the labor market participation rate which fell another .2% to 63.5% with 368,000 dropping out of the labor force. If the participation rate today was the same as it was in January 2008 the unemployment number would be 11.2%
Janco and eJobDescription find that hiring stalls - IT employment increased last month, and there may be signs in the latest data of high demand for some specific IT occupations. Pros face a mixed job market with a net gain of only 12,400 IT jobs in August - versus the 13,600 jobs added in July and 9,600 in June. This shows a slight positive trend – 96 CIOs interviewed feel that hiring will increase significantly six to nine months from now. They all qualify that forecast with the assumption that there is not a double dip recession.
The market for IT Professionals continues to show a slight improvement in hiring. There was a net increase of 12,400 seasonally adjusted IT jobs in August according to the latest BLS data. There was an improvement in computer system design and related services accounted of 14,700 jobs and another 3,100 jobs in other information services which was offset by a loss of 4,700 jobs in telecommunications and 700 jobs in Data Processing, hosting and related services.
Victor Janulaitis. The CEO of Janco Associates said, “The year to year comparison of workforce participation shows how deep a hole we are in. Until those percentages turn around there will be little hope for a strong recovery.”
Updated with the most recent information
for current analysis see IT Job Market Data
In a continuing survey of CIOs Janco has found many CIOs are cautious but feel that overall hiring will improve significantly in 2013 and are initially budgeting accordingly. The CEO of Janco said, “In telephone interviews in late August of 96 US based CIOs we found that many are looking ahead to a brighter 2013 and increased staffing in late spring and early summer. CIOs are keeping their current overall FTE (full time equivalent) headcounts level but are looking to replace consultants and contractors with full time employees.” He added, “A few CIOs in selected areas like SF Bay Area and Boston are extremely bullish.” Further he said, “One in five CIO’s are looking to hire within the next 3 months to fill short term needs. These CIOs are looking for particular sets of skills to meet the demands of mobile computing and towards implementation processes which will support users to use their own personal devices – BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) – to minimize capital expenditures and improve ROI.”
Current Data - See Current IT Hiring Trends
The health care job market continues to be a bright spot on the overall US labor market and is one area where IT Pros can go with the flow and find job opportunities. The implementation of Electronic Patient Records is one of the driving forces in the increased opportunities in this area. The chart below depicts the total labor market in this sector.
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