Strong Demand For Project Help From Corporate IT

About one in every eight U.S. chief information officers surveyed – or 13 percent - by Robert Half Technology plan to put IT hiring plans on hold during the first half of 2016. That may seem insignificant in an otherwise strong IT hiring market, as 22 percent of CIOs said they plan to add staff while another 63 percent plan to fill only open roles. But the 13 percent is up from the 9 percent of CIOs who said they were shutting the door on hiring in the second half of 2015.

That could create a slight opening for managed service providers who could come in and supplement the work of an IT staff.

"Organizations have spent the past few years building core technology teams that can keep pace with rapid marketplace changes, resulting in an industry that's near full-employment," said John Reed, senior executive director of Robert Half Technology. "Hiring remains steady, and there is particularly strong demand for staff and consultants to complete short-term projects, implementations and upgrades."