Top 5 Hiring Trends of IT Industry in 2014

A new study from CareerBuilder reveals that hiring trends will be similar to 2013, employers will remain cautious with hiring plans in the new year. In fact, 24 percent of companies expect to add full-time, permanent employees in 2014, down 2 percentage points from last year. Small businesses are also staying cautious as only 19 percent with 50 employees or less plan to hire in 2014.

More than one in four employers plan to hire for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs over the next 12 months, while the hiring trends indicate top two positions companies plan to hire for in 2014 are sales and information technology. These two functions are also where employers expect to provide the biggest salary increases. Hiring managers also plan to recruit full-time, permanent employees for customer service, production, administrative, engineering and marketing, among a few others.

“What we saw in our survey was reluctance from some employers to commit to adding jobs until the outcomes of debt negotiations and other issues affecting economic expansion are clearer,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “As these stories play out and employers find their footing in the new year, there is greater potential for the average monthly job creation in 2014 to exceed that of 2013.”

CareerBuilder projects five hiring trends employers and job seekers should watch for in the upcoming year:

Part-time hiring on the rise –

Seventeen percent of employers expect to recruit part-time workers over the next 12 months, up three percentage points over last year. While various factors will influence this trend, 12 percent of all employers stated that they will likely hire more part-time workers in 2014 due to the Affordable Care Act.

More companies “onshoring” jobs –

One of the most popular imports of the New Year just may be previously lost jobs. Twenty-three percent of companies who offshore jobs said they brought some of those jobs back to the U.S. in 2013; 26 percent plan to do so in 2014.

Skills gap widening –

Looking at a subset of human resource managers, half (51 percent) said they currently have positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates. Forty-six percent said these positions go unfilled for three months or longer.

Companies building the perfect employee instead of waiting for one –

In light of the skills gap, nearly half (49 percent) of employers plan to train people who don’t have experience in their industry or field and hire them in 2014, up 10 percentage points over last year. Twenty-six percent of employers are sending current employees back to school to get an advanced degree – and picking up all or part of the cost.

Companies looking for recruits in high schools –

More companies are connecting with future generations of workers to establish a constant pipeline of job candidates. Twenty-seven percent of hiring managers have promoted careers at their firms to high school students or, in some cases, even younger; 25 percent plan to do so in 2014.

As a recruiter or hiring manager, this means you have to adjust your hiring strategy, starting with where you look for potential employees. Specifically focusing on CareerBuilder’s third projection, you will need to spend a great deal of time recruiting for the high-skilled positions open in your company. The skills gap issue means that the people with the right set of skills will be highly recruited and the advantage is in their favor. With this in mind, you must focus on selling your company as the best at more than just compensation and benefits.

As highlighted in previous blog posts, culture is increasingly important to candidates. It’s part of your responsibility to figure out if potential candidates meet the qualifications of job openings, as well as identify if they will seamlessly transitions into successful employees. This can be achieved through pre-employment assessments and targeted interview questions.

You will also need to broaden your recruiting strategy, utilizing every tactic to find employees that fit your needs, including high-skilled candidates and part-time employees, the latter of which is expected to continue to increase in the workforce this year. Recruiters will be responsible for finding part-time employees in a similar manner to full-time: making sure they are the right fit. Even though they may not receive full-time benefits, they will still need to fit in with existing employees to ensure success.

The hiring trends indicate just like in 2013, the talent acquisition field will continue to grow and change in 2014. It’s the responsibility of hiring managers and recruiters to stay on top of the trends and find ways to benefit from them.

*The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive^© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,201 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between November 6 and December 2, 2013.