CareerBuilder’s IT Mid-Year Job Forecast Points To Steady Hiring Picture In Back Half Of 2012

PRESS RELEASE

Chicago, July 19, 2012 – While the jobs recovery continues to lag that of previous recessions, the outlook for the back half of 2012 shows a market that remains stable. Fifty-five percent of IT employers reported they are planning to hire full-time, permanent staff from July 1 through December 31, 2012, a decrease of 1 percentage point over the same period last year, yet well over the national average (44 percent). Forty-three percent of IT employers report they currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates.

The nationwide survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive© from May 14, 2012 to June 4, 2012, included 180 IT hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.

“Despite a small slow down in hiring year-over-year, the IT sector remains strong with an ever-growing need for strong talent in this area,” said Ben Jablow, VP of niche sites for CareerBuilder. “With IT employers planning to hire in numbers more than 10 percentage points above the national average, the second half of 2012 promises a pattern of steady growth for the industry.”

IT employers plan to add a mix of new employees over the next six months, with part-time, contract and intern categories trending up from last year:

Hiring full-time, permanent employees – 55 percent, down from 56 percent in 2011 Hiring part-time employees – 18 percent, up from 10 percent in 2011 Hiring contract or temporary employees – 28 percent, up from 20 percent in 2011 Hiring Interns – 25 percent, up from 12 percent in 2011

Where Employers Are Hiring First

The top functional areas for which IT employers plan to hire first are those directly impacting revenue and innovation. IT remains in the No. 1 spot for recruitment within IT with Sales and Customer Service rounding out the top three.

Information Technology – 78 percent Sales – 25 percent Customer Service – 22 percent Marketing – 17 percent. Accounting/Finance – 17 percent Business Development – 13 percent Administrative – 9 percent

Emerging Occupations

More IT employers are also reporting that their organizations have created entirely new job functions within their companies to respond to evolving business demands. When asked if their organizations currently have positions that didn’t exist in their firms five years ago, IT employers pointed to the following:

Positions tied to storing and managing data – 28 percent Positions tied to social media – 22 percent Positions tied to cyber security – 20 percent Positions tied to global relations – 13 percent Positions tied to green energy and the environment – 11 percent Positions tied to financial regulation – 9 percent Positions tied to promoting diversity inside and outside the organization – 9 percent

Hiring in Q2 2012

Forty-six percent of IT employers added full-time, permanent headcount in the second quarter, down from 48 percent last year. Nine percent decreased headcount while 45 percent made no change to staff levels.

Hiring in Q3 2012

Looking ahead, 41 percent of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in the third quarter. Given that employers historically have been more conservative in estimates than actual hiring activity, the number may come in higher at quarter end.

Seven percent expect to downsize staffs, on par with last year. Forty-eight percent anticipate no changes to headcount while 4 percent are undecided.

Changing Jobs

IT workers are feeling better about their job prospects with one-in-four (28 percent) stating they are likely to leave their current jobs in the next 12 months, up slightly from 26 percent last year.

As the job market improves and employee turnover rates increase, the competition for in-demand talent is getting more intense. Fifty-six percent of IT employers are concerned that top talent will leave their organizations, up from 51 percent last year. Thirty-five percent reported they lost top performers in the second quarter, up from 30 percent last year and 20 percent last quarter.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 180 IT hiring managers and human resource professionals and 259 IT workers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) ages 18 and over between May 14 and June 4, 2012 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 180 and 259, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors of +/-7.30 and +/- 6.09 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About Sologig.com and CareerBuilder® Sologig.com is an employment website that connects consultants specializing in technology and other fields with top employers in need of contract workers or permanent staff. Users can also post résumés, sign up for automatic job alerts and take advantage of job search management tools.

Sologig is a division of CareerBuilder, the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset - their people.

Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 49 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world’s top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and talent intelligence to recruitment support. More than 10,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder’s proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.