News
January 21, 2016Linium Index of High-‐Tech Hiring Predicts Strong Start for Capital Region’s Technology Job Market in 2016
A growing number of Capital Region companies plan to start the new year by adding technology-‐based jobs – and optimism about high-‐tech job growth during 2016 is increasing – even as challenges persist in recruiting and retaining candidates for those positions, according to the Linium Index for High-‐Tech Hiring released today.
Hiring managers from 50 area companies participated in the Winter 2016 survey conducted by Linium, the region’s leading recruiter for technology positions. During the first quarter, 70 percent expect hiring for high-‐tech jobs to increase, up from 63 percent in the Fall 2015 survey. Meanwhile, 82 percent described themselves as either very optimistic or optimistic about expectations for technology job growth over the next year, up from 77 percent last fall.
At the same time, 70 percent of companies called recruiting and hiring for tech positions either challenging or a significant challenge. Though that was slightly lower than last fall’s 75 percent, the number of companies that viewed retaining tech employees as either challenging or a significant challenge rose from 43 percent to 60 percent. Also, fewer companies reported having the most success in recruiting locally – 40 percent as compared to 57 percent – with fully half relying on a mix of candidates from within and outside the area, up from 35 percent last fall.
“The findings of the Linium Index demonstrate that Capital Region employers are bullish about the high-‐tech job market, which is a positive sign at the start of the new year,” said Miriam Dushane, Linium Recruiting’s Managing Director for Upstate New York. “That said, the ability to recruit and retain qualified workers to fill the growing number of tech jobs continues to be a challenge, and one that must be addressed in order to sustain continued growth in the future.”
While the skills gap remains the biggest challenge for recruiters, the number of employers that cited it as their biggest concern, 38 percent, was down from 52 percent last fall. The overall business climate was cited as the top challenge by 26 percent of respondents, up from 17 percent last quarter.
The field showing the fastest-‐growing number of opportunities continues to be Information Technology (IT), which rose from 54 percent last fall to 68 percent in the first quarter. Within IT, the greatest demand remained in development jobs (web/software/applications) at 44 percent, though that was down from 58 percent, as demand for infrastructure positions (hardware/networking/support) nearly doubled from 20 percent to 38 percent.
Of the hiring managers who participated in the survey, 46 percent came from companies with 100 or fewer employees, with 54 percent from firms with more than 100 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 April.
