The Randstad Technologies Employee Confidence Index, a measure of overall confidence among technology workers, reached the highest level ever recorded in the Index’s nine-year history, increasing from 58.7 in Q2 2014 to 61.7 this quarter. The study, conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of talent and solutions provider Randstad Technologies, showed technology workers’ confidence in the strength of the economy rebounded significantly this quarter, with nearly half (43%) believing the economy is getting stronger. In addition, the Randstad Macroeconomic Confidence Index, which measures employees’ confidence in the overall strength of the economy, increased dramatically from 47.4 last quarter to 52.4 this quarter—the highest level among all other professions surveyed. The study was conducted in July, August and September of 2014 among 189 U.S. IT workers aged 18 and older.
Also this quarter, IT workers are more confident about their own personal employment situation, including the availability of jobs and their ability to find new employment. Nearly four-in-10 (38%) IT workers believe there are more jobs available this quarter, while more than half (56%) are confident in their ability to find a new job. Not surprisingly, many more IT employees say they are likely to look for a new job this quarter, with 40 percent of IT professionals indicating they are willing to job hunt in the next year, an 11 percentage point increase from the second quarter of 2014.
“It is encouraging to see confidence levels among all IT workers reaching unprecedented heights,” says Bob Dickey, Group President of Technology and Engineering at Randstad. “Employers must keep in mind that with more confidence in the job market comes more likelihood of job mobility, a challenge when many organizations are already struggling with finding the right IT talent to drive business goals and innovation. In fact, a recent Gartner report on CIO Agenda 2014/2015, finds 51 percent of CIOs are concerned that the digital torrent is coming faster than they can cope, and 42 percent don’t feel they have the right skills and capabilities in place to face this future.”
According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, one often overlooked solution to the IT skills shortage is to recruit more women into the profession. The organization cites that there are roughly 1.2 million computing jobs projected to be available by 2022, yet U.S. universities are producing only 39 percent of the graduates needed to fill them. Meanwhile, the National Center for Education Statistics forecasts a total of 13.5 million female college students in 2020 compared to just under 9.5 million males. In addition, a recent New York Times article reported that women hold only 25 percent of IT jobs, and roughly half will eventually quit to pursue a completely different line of work.
