* Gartner polls number of U.S. organizations about hiring plans
In more evidence that the job market tide is turning, a recent report from Gartner shows that many CIOs anticipate adding to their staff over the next several months, according to a recent report from Gartner.
The IT analysis firm’s Gartner Executive Programs (EXP) unit polled 188 U.S. organizations about their IT hiring plans through February 2007. Approximately 61% of respondents project some level of IT staff increase. What’s more, respondents also report a 1% bump in worker-initiated turnover compared to last year’s survey results.
The average 2006 salary increase for IT employees is likely to be 3.6%, though money alone won’t cut it. “Enterprises can no longer rely on the incremental increase in their overall IT salary budget to keep the turnover rate down,” says Lily Mok, a research director for Gartner. “Pay is only one of the levers used to attract and retain the best and the brightest IT talent. IT professionals are paying more attention to career development opportunities and work/life balance.”
Gartner points to the need to attract, develop and retain your IT workforce through what it deems a “Total Rewards strategy.” This includes direct financial incentives such as base salary and bonuses, indirect financial perks like benefits, and career and affiliation rewards such as cultural components.
As identified by the survey, project managers, database administrators, enterprise architects, network architects and Internet/Web architects are the positions that are most difficult to fill, so you’d be wise to find out what you can do to keep these folks happy.
