Hiring Trends for 2017

Hiring is going to be a challenge for tech positions, particularly for security and networking roles. 

Here is a glimpse of what is expected on the hiring front in 2017. The following forecast is based on the research conducted by Robert Half Technology and TEKsystems.

• Marginal salary gains – Majority of IT leaders expect IT salaries to stay the same compared to 2016 rates. Many organizations are relying on rate cards from several years ago, and the IT segment is suffering a degree of wage stagnation.
• Some skills are more likely to get raises – There won’t be department-wise salary hikes, but in-demand roles will get raises. These roles will be – programmers & developers, software engineers, security and cloud based computing.
• IT headcount expanding for some – Some companies will add new positions in the year 2017. Most of them will put IT hiring on hold.
• Contingent IT staff increasing - IT leaders report that in 2016, 80% of their IT team members are full-time staffers and 20% are contingent workers. Looking ahead to 2017, CIOs are predicting a slight shift in the ratio of full-time staff (76%) to contingent workers (24%).
• Skills in greatest demand – Database management, desktop support, network administration and cybersecurity are the most in-demand skills.
• Explosion of tech roles - Our technology-driven lifestyles mean that more employers in finance, retail, healthcare, etc., need employees who can derive insights from data, create a mobile app, or code a website. A tight overall hiring market and increased demand for tech talent makes recruiting those coding and analytics stars even more difficult.
• Pay transparency - Transparency in the workplace isn’t new, but in 2016 we saw a big push from policymakers for employers to be more transparent about pay. New rules from the federal government will require some employers to disclose workers’ pay by gender, race/ethnicity.  In 2017, employers should prepare for increased salary negotiations.