News

January 19, 2017

Linium Hiring Index Predicts Capital Region Tech Jobs to Grow, Together With the Challenge in Filling Them

Capital Region companies expect to start the new year by adding technology jobs – with few concerns about the change in Presidential administration – but they may be held back by a growing challenge in recruiting qualified candidates. Those findings are contained in the newest Linium Hiring Index, which was released today by Linium Recruiting, the region’s leading recruiter for technology-based positions.

The Linium Hiring Index for the 1^st quarter of 2017 surveyed 56 hiring and human resource managers at companies throughout the region. Just over half, 52 percent, expect technology-based jobs to increase over the next three months, nearly identical to last fall. However, the number of employers that regard tech hiring as either challenging or a significant challenge – 82 percent – is the highest since the survey was launched in the fall of 2015. As has been the case in each previous survey, a skills gap is cited as the biggest challenge affecting the ability to hire.

Employers were also asked whether the new Presidential administration would affect plans for hiring during the first quarter. Nearly two-thirds, 64 percent, said hiring plans would continue to move forward as expected, while 30 percent said they would be more cautious and consider the policies and decisions coming from Washington.

“The year is new but the storyline is familiar: employers are ready to grow their technology workforces, but they’re having a hard time recruiting strong candidates,” said Miriam Dushane, Managing Director, Upstate New York for Linium Recruiting. “In an environment where skilled professionals can virtually write their own ticket, companies need to be innovative and agile to find and hire good employees that will drive productivity and profitability.”

Despite the hiring challenges, expectations for high-tech job growth remain high: 71 percent of employers characterize themselves as either optimistic or very optimistic about the year ahead, and 62 percent consider the regional economy, including high tech, to be better or much better than the national economy.

The technology field showing the fastest-growing number of opportunities continues to be IT, cited by 46 percent of employers. But for the first time since the survey was launched, infrastructure positions, which include hardware, network, security and support, were identified as most in demand – named by 45 percent of employers – followed by development at 38 percent.

In addition to the skills gap, cited by 37 percent of employers, other challenges impeding the ability to hire included corporate finances (20 percent), overall business climate (18 percent), business development (14 percent) and health care costs (11 percent).

Linium Recruiting conducted the survey from December 6 through 22, 2016. Of the respondents, 59 percent came from companies with more than 100 employees and 41 percent from firms with 100 or fewer. Intended to help companies better understand the technology job market, the Linium Hiring Index is used by hiring managers to help develop strategies to recruit and retain a highly skilled workforce. The next quarterly index will be released in April.