U.S IT Job Market Shrank by 13,700 Jobs in the First Quarter of 2023
CIO management concerns are constantly changing but the solutions are always centered around three factors: technology, infrastructure and people
This tool kit has been updated to reflect changes to the IT Infrastructure caused by the Pandemic - including WFH and Cloud processing. It meets all of the EU's GDPR mandated requirements and reflects all of the requirements of the California Privacy Act. It contains a Privacy Compliance Policy with its associated electronic forms and job descriptions.
The IT Management Tool Kit components are over 2,500 pages in length is provided in MS WORD and PDF formats and includes the following:
- Security Manual Template
- How to Guide for Cloud Processing and Outsourcing
- IT Job Family Classification HandiGuide
- All of the Job Descriptions as individual MS Word files
- Interview and Hiring Guide
- Latest IT Salary Survey
- IT Infrastructure Policy Bundle plus Electronic Forms
- Business and IT Impact Questionnaire
- Vulnerability and Threat Assessment Tool
Top CIO Management and Planning Priorities
In a recent survey of CIO and C-Level executives Janco identified the top 10 management and planning priorities that CIOs face and they relate to the three areas mentioned above.
Change from what was originally published - Updated to the latest data
CIO Management and Planning Priorities had a seismic shift in Q1 of 2023
The analyst conducted a survey of 274 IT functions across multiple industries and from mega corporations to companies with as few as 50 IT professionals. In 2023 the top 10 priorities:
- Security and Hacking - Internal and external threats are on the increase and CIO continues to be focused on this.
- Compliance - With the expansion of the infrastructure to address eCommerce, the possibility of a downturn, and a shortage of compliance talent moved this up.
- Cost Control - When the economy was booming last year, many CIOs are not that concerned. Today that is not the case.
- Budget Management - Important as inflation continues to be an issue and the recovery falters adjust the optimistic budgets that were created last year need to be adjusted.
- Access Management - Network management and control now have an even greater role than before. In 2021, 67% of the individual interviewed placed that in the top ten. Now it is a priority for 52%.
- Privacy/Identity Protection - With the rise of WFH, GDPR, and CCPA data privacy is a top ten priority.
- Productivity of IT - Many IT functions are top-heavy with too many layers of management and non-essential staff who add to IT overhead impacting overall productivity. This had the greatest shift in importance as both CIO and CFO looked to eliminate “non-essential” staff.
- Mobile Computing - Mobile and end-user computing requires applications to be outward facing, functional on a myriad of devices, and user-friendly. Most of this work was completed last year. Now it has a priority for 49% of the interviewees versus 69% in 2022.
- Blockchain, ERP, and Cloud - There is still a high demand for applications that are internet based and outward facing to clients and customers. These are important. We found no initiatives in this arena that have been canceled. Rather we have not seen as many of these “new” projects initiated.
- Work From Home - Was not even on the radar before the pandemic and is being deemphasized as a priority but still falling in the top 10 with a drop of 75% to 32% of the respondents saying it was a top priority.
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Executive Summary
Layoffs and economic uncertainty drove CIOs and CFOs to slow IT Hiring
Janco reports that in the first quarter of 2023, the IT job market lost 13,700 jobs. That is in sharp contrast with 51K jobs that were created in Q1 of 2022. Layoffs by the big tech companies including Accenture (39,000), Microsoft (2,700), Meta (11,000), and Alphabet (12,000) have resulted in over 158,000 tech workers that have been terminated in the first quarter. The tech centers of San Francisco and Seattle get the headlines, but these reductions in the number of IT Pros employed are occurring nationwide.
The growth of the IT job market stopped with a decline of 2,600 jobs in January and 11,600 jobs in February. In March the IT job market rebounded with 500 jobs added. The three-month moving average of IT job market growth went negative in February and moved up in the positive range in March. Currently, there is an excess of 145K unfilled jobs for IT Pros due to a lack of qualified candidates.
The CEO of Janco, M. Victor Janulaitis said, “Based on our analysis, the IT job market and opportunities for IT professionals are limited but exist for experienced individuals. Layoffs, for the most part, did not hit developers. In the first quarter. The big losers were telecommunications losing 4,500 jobs, hosting and cloud providers losing 6,100 jobs, and content providers another 1,500 jobs. The jobs lost were in data center operations, administrative and HR roles related to recruiting, and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Some roles, especially in telecommunications and data center operations are being automated and eliminated. Driving this is, CIOs and CFOs who are looking to improve the productivity of IT by automating processes and reporting where possible. They are focusing on eliminating “non-essential” managers and staff. Experienced coders and developers still have opportunities. The highest demand continues to be for security professionals, programmers, and blockchain processing IT Pros. Currently, there are over 145K unfilled jobs.”
He said, “The general belief there will be an economic downturn remains high for many CIOs and CFOs. This is impacting all decisions around hiring new IP Pros and increasing technology-related expenditures. Given these facts, we believe that median salaries for IT Pros in 2023 will be 3-4% salary above 2022 levels, not the 7%-8% that was budgeted for 2023.”
The CEO added, “According to the latest BLS data analyzed, there are now just over 4.18 million jobs for IT Professionals in the US. Layoffs at big tech companies are having an adverse on overall IT hiring. More CIOs are looking at a troubling economic climate and are evaluating the need for increased headcounts based on the technological requirements of their specific business operations.”
With this as a background, Janco forecasts the growth of the IT Job Market in 2023 to be in the 60K to 70K new jobs range. That will be less growth than in 2021 and 2022, but still with some growth in the latter half of this year. To assist in managing these troubled times, Janco has just released the 2023 edition CIO Management Tool Kit. This tool kit has been updated to reflect changes to the IT Infrastructure caused by compliance mandates and the current economic environment - including WFH and Cloud processing. It meets all of the mandated security requirements and best practices.
Janulaitis said, “Many of the issues faced by the economy continue to be due to ongoing supply chain problems. If China opens fully, overall supply chains should improve but will take several months to completely recover. That should lessen the recessionary pressures that are driving companies to reduce staff.”
