News
April 21, 2016Linium Index of High-Tech Hiring Forecasts Continued Strength in Capital Region’s Tech Job Market
A majority of Capital Region companies plan to add technology jobs in the second quarter and over the next year, though a decline in hiring expectations driven by seasonal influences and the uncertainty generated by the presidential race point to a tightening tech job market this spring, according to the latest Linium Index of High-Tech Hiring released today.
The Spring 2016 survey by Linium Recruiting, the region’s leading recruiter for technology-based positions, was conducted between March 21 and April 1, and drew participation from 110 hiring and human resource managers at area companies.
While 58 percent expect to add tech jobs in the second quarter, that figure declined from 70 percent in the first quarter. However, when asked about expectations for tech job growth over the next year, 80 percent of employers described themselves as either very optimistic or optimistic, nearly identical to 82 percent at the start of the year. And, more employers will be looking within the region to fill openings – 55 percent as compared to 40 percent last quarter.
The Linium Index also revealed a slight increase in the percentage of employers that characterized hiring for high-tech jobs as either a significant challenge or challenging, from 70 percent in the first quarter to 76 percent in the second. And, the percentage of employers that consider the regional economy to be much better or better than the national economy fell slightly, from 64 percent to 59 percent.
“The Capital Region’s technology job market remains strong for the foreseeable future, even as typical seasonal influences are being felt and the presidential race is causing uncertainty for many businesses,” said Miriam Dushane, Linium Recruiting’s Managing Director for Upstate New York. “Still, reduced hiring expectations combined with an ongoing skills gap demonstrate the need to remain vigilant in building a high-tech workforce that will keep our economy growing.”
The skills gap remains the biggest challenge affecting employers’ ability to hire, cited by 37 percent of respondents. Emerging for the first time as concerns were tax and regulatory burdens, along with health care costs, which were named collectively as the top challenge by 14 percent of respondents, up from 4 percent last quarter and just 1 percent last fall.
Information Technology (IT) was again identified as having the fastest-growing number of job opportunities, cited by 55 percent of respondents, though that was down from 68 percent in the first quarter. Within IT, the greatest demand remained in development jobs (web/software/applications) at 43 percent, followed by infrastructure positions (hardware/networking/support) at 35 percent, nearly identical to the start of the year.
Hiring managers who participated in the survey included 54 percent from companies with 200 or fewer employees, with 46 percent at companies with more than 200 employees.
The Linium Index is designed to assist companies in better understanding the technology job market, and to help them develop strategies to recruit and retain a top-notch workforce. The next quarterly index will be released in early summer.
