Agile has compiled data on IT and staffing trends in the Atlanta technology community, and will publish our Q32011 Market Pulse report in the next week. This quarterly report provides information that we have gathered and analyzed regarding IT employment in Metro Atlanta.  It also includes findings from a survey sent to over 300 IT executives in the Atlanta area.

Based on our data and survey results, three things are clear:

1. IT employment in Metro Atlanta is definitely on the rise as overall jobs decline.
2. Atlanta companies want to hire highly skilled IT professionals on a permanent basis.
3. Almost half of the executives who responded to our survey expect increases in IT projects and hiring next year.

Agile’s Market Pulse will be available on our website (www.gotoagile.com), but we’d like to offer you a sneak preview of what’s inside the latest issue:

• The number of IT jobs in Metro Atlanta grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q32011 to 92,433. For the same period, the number of ALL jobs in Metro Atlanta declined 1.4 percent to about 2.23 million.
• Employers are ready and willing to hire top IT talent on a permanent basis; data shows a nearly 70 percent increase in the number of openings for perm IT jobs in Q3 as the number of openings to fill contract positions declined by 30 percent.
• There has been a steady rise in “days to fill” IT positions which may be contributed to employers requiring IT professionals with unique/hard-to-find skills.
• Our survey reveals more than two-thirds of respondents report there were more activities and projects in 2011 than in 2010; more than half of those responded that the increase was between 10-24 percent.
• Half of the respondents expect their activity and project levels in 2012 to be about the same as 2011; 45 percent believe they will be busier in 2012.
• When asked about their biggest challenges in 2012, 40 percent said that “growing my IT organization” was at the top of the list.
• When asked what they believe is required to generate job growth, more than two-thirds stated that cutting or reducing government programs and lessening the tax burden on business is necessary.

Some of the above findings may not surprise you, but some may – especially survey responses from local technology leaders.  We hope you’ll find the information both interesting and useful.

Please check Agile’s web site (www.gotoagile.com) next week for the complete Market Pulse report.

Last month, Agile published its Q2 Market Pulse which focused on the increase in IT employment throughout Metro Atlanta and continued confidence in future IT jobs.  Our findings appear to be in-line with IT employment nationally.

Robert Half Technology recently polled 1,400 CIOs and found that 12 percent of companies are planning to increase the number of full-time IT personnel, and half as many are planning cutbacks.  The survey projects a net increase of six percent in IT hiring activity – up two percentage points from last quarter. Agile’s data found IT employment in the Atlanta area had increased 1.4 percent over Q1, and three percent higher from a year ago.

In addition, the survey shows that corporate confidence appears to be on the rise: 92% of CIOs said they are confident of business growth in the next three months. This level of confidence is up five percentage points from last quarter. Our findings on IT job growth only strengthen this level of confidence. Agile found that growth is most dramatic in contract assignments with the number of open assignments growing 75 percent in just three months – up 290 percent since Q1 2010. Contract-to-hire assignments are up almost 10 percent while searches for permanent, full-time IT professionals incrementally increased in Q2 2011. However, compared to Q1 2010 contract-to-hire searches are up almost 110 percent and searches for permanent IT professionals are up almost 42 percent.

The CIOs polled in the Robert Half Technology survey revealed that the most challenging areas to find talent are IT security (18%), networking (17%), data/database management (11%) and help desk/technical support (11%).  In Agile’s Q1 Market Pulse, we identified the skill sets in greatest demand as: network administration (63%), desktop management (50%) and desktop support (43%).   In that issue, many IT enterprises reported they had trouble recruiting information security analysts, database administrators, and computer and information systems analysts last year and anticipate needing more of them in 2011. In addition, the need for web developers, software developers/systems software, computer programmers, and computer systems analysts for the remainder of 2011 was anticipated by the technology leaders polled in our survey.
Regionally, CIOs in the mid-Atlantic plan to do the most IT hiring in the fourth quarter, with 16% of executives anticipating adding staff. From an industry perspective, transportation is the hottest sector for IT hiring.

“CIOs are optimistic but are being careful not to overload their teams with too many projects, given the challenging recruiting environment,” stated John Reed, executive director of Robert Half Technology.  “Right now, companies are focused on the ‘need-to-have’ projects that can enhance security, streamline processes or generate revenue.”

We’re optimistic that the remainer of 2011 will be positive.  Agile’s Q3 Market Pulse will be published later in October.

Seems like all we hear about in the news is gloom and doom when it comes to the job market, but Agile’s 2Q 2011 Market Pulse has some positive findings!  Metro Atlanta IT employment is gaining momentum, and it appears IT employers are more confident about the future as an increase in IT hiring (perm and contract) continued during the second quarter of 2011.

In our latest issue of Market Pulse, you may be surprised at some of our findings including:

• The number of IT contractors placed by Agile is up 62% from Q2 2010.
• Open contract positions grew 75% from Q1 2011.
• Perm placements were up 10% from the last quarter, and over 50% from a year earlier.
• Searches for perm placements increased 42% over Q1 2010.
• Agile’s recent drop in time-to-fill for contract assignments indicates our solid network of top IT professionals.

Get more good news on  IT staffing trends in Atlanta by downloading Agile’s free Market Pulse.  We’d like to hear what you think about IT employment where you live.