Confidence is high as number of new IT jobs increases

Year to year comparisons show IT Jobs increased at double the rate of 2017 - Janco's forecast of 136,500 new IT jobs stays firm

Park City, UT - Confidence is high as number of new IT jobs increases. The IT job market spiked up with double the number new jobs in January of this year versus January of last year. The CEO of Janco Associates, Mr. Victor Janulaitis said, "This increased demand for IT professions remains firm with more hiring on tap for at least the next several months. From our conversations with many CIOs, CFOs, and CEOs we feel this is the start of a boom in demand for IT professionals. Janco's forecast of 136,500 new IT jobs for 2017 is on track with 11,800 new jobs added in January. "

Mr. M. Victor Janulaitis said, “The recent election has created a positive outlook for job growth in general and  Information Technology in particular. If as the new administration says, jobs will be brought back to the US, a re-vamped H-1B visa program implemented, the tax system improved, and infrastructure spending increased -- that should result in a significantly improved economic picture." He added. "With the stimulus and constraints proposed by the new administration there will be greater need for US based IT resources. IT hiring will be up."

However, growth in job market size is not seen across all IT disciplines. Telecommunication has seen a drop in the number of IT jobs with an overall reduction of 24,900 in the last 12 months. The CEO said, "Much of that reduction was due to consolidations in that industry and automation which has improved overall productivity." He added, "The growth of the system design and related services has more than offset that decline. 92,500 new jobs have been added there in the last 12 months."

Janco interviewed over 135 (80 after the election) CIOs in the last several weeks as part of its 2017 IT Salary Survey process ( https://e-janco.com/salary.htm ). Janco's CEO said, "CIOs interviewed after the election and post-election processes are optimistic that there will be more incentives for increased IT spending and hiring. Those interviewed earlier were not as optimistic." He added, "SMBs are actively looking for experienced managers who will be able to manage the increased technology initiatives that they feel will be stated in the next two quarters."

In the last three (3) month the IT Job market grew by 2,800 jobs. This chart is not the originally published one, rather it is updated with the current data based on the analysis by Janco Associates, Inc. For the latest IT Employment Data click here.

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The CEO added, “In reviewing the last 24 months of data on new IT job creation, it is very clear that there has been a downward bias in the number of new jobs created due to the prior administration's policies.” He added, “In direct interviews with CIOs and CFOs (before the election) we found that they had budgeted for slower growth in 2017. At that time, few of these C-level executives were comfortable with the overall direction of the economy and prospects for new IT jobs. This also was reflected in lower acquisitions for new equipment and major application developments and implementations. Many of these executives were hedging their bets and forecasting flat to lower budgets for the 2017. A common thread we heard was that it will be easier to come back and get more monies than to have to cut spending after the new year starts.” He added, "That has all changed, after the election many are more optimistic and are looking to increase staff sizes and IT spending."

The CEO also said, “Even before the election, many CFOs were not adverse incremental spending for IT related activities that have operational support and have a good ROI.”  

Janco is an international consulting firm that follows issues that concern CIOs and CFOs. The firm publishes a series of IT and business Infrastructure HandiGuides® and Templates including IT Infrastructure Policies and Procedures, Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Template, Security Template, IT Job Descriptions, and its semi-annual IT Salary Survey.