IT Professionals on the IT Profession
Over 2,400 IT professionals were asked to give their thoughts on the biggest IT industry trends. Here's some of what the TEKsystems survey found:
Note: Totals may not equal 100% because of rounding.
" Do you agree that...
...there is a shortage of IT professionals in the U.S. (demand is greater than the supply)?
" Strongly agree: 19%
" Agree: 37%
" Neutral: 18%
" Disagree: 18%
" Strongly disagree: 8%
" Don't know: 1%
...demand for IT professionals will always outpace supply, since technology is always evolving?
" Strongly agree: 27%
" Agree: 42%
" Neutral: 12%
" Disagree: 13%
" Strongly disagree: 5%
" Don't know: 1%
...the company you currently work for struggles to attract, retain and develop its IT workforce?
" Strongly agree: 16%
" Agree: 29%
" Neutral: 23%
" Disagree: 20%
" Strongly disagree: 6%
" Don't know: 6%
...the shortage of IT professionals in the U.S. makes your life difficult because of the high expectations that are placed on you?
" Strongly agree: 11%
" Agree: 32%
" Neutral: 25%
" Disagree: 24%
" Strongly disagree: 7%
" Don't know: 2%
" Contract or Contingent Work vs. Permanent Employment
For each of the following IT disciplines, what's the likelihood that expertise in that area will lead to contract or contingent work versus the likelihood that it will lead to permanent employment?
Developer
" Contract or contingent work: 70%
" Permanent employment: 30%
Programmer
" Contract or contingent work: 61%
" Permanent employment: 39%
Project manager
" Contract or contingent work: 55%
" Permanent employment: 45%
Help desk/support
" Contract or contingent work: 52%
" Permanent employment: 48%
Software engineer
" Contract or contingent work: 51%
" Permanent employment: 49%
Data scientist/statistician
" Contract or contingent work: 45%
" Permanent employment: 55%
Architect
" Contract or contingent work: 45%
" Permanent employment: 55%
Business analyst
" Contract or contingent work: 42%
" Permanent employment: 58%
Systems analyst
" Contract or contingent work: 41%
" Permanent employment: 59%
Network engineer
" Contract or contingent work: 37%
" Permanent employment: 63%
Database administrator
" Contract or contingent work: 23%
" Permanent employment: 77%
Network administrator
" Contract or contingent work: 22%
" Permanent employment: 78%
" What's the best thing about being an IT professional?
1. Good money
2. Exciting, cutting-edge work
3. IT is a sustainable field, meaning demand will always be high
Source: TEKsystems online survey of more than 2,400 IT professionals, Q4 2012
Q&A: Scott Dorsey
The CEO of ExactTarget talks about the importance of fostering a happy workforce.
What is the value of having a happy workforce? Happy employees lead to happy clients. We believe that employee engagement and satisfaction are the best leading indicators of client success. At ExactTarget, we focus on building an environment that attracts the best talent and fosters entrepreneurship, teamwork and growth. When you mix talented and motivated employees with a culture of collaboration and putting clients first, business success usually follows.
How do you achieve that? Are perks and salary the key? Creating a strong company culture and happy workplace starts with being authentic and really caring for your employees. Once your heart is in the right place, then benefits like great work environment, strong healthcare benefits, competitive pay and education reimbursement all contribute to employee engagement. We find that our employees certainly care about compensation but are equally motivated by working with amazing people and are energized by all of the career opportunities that come with hypergrowth. We also provide equity incentives to all employees to align interests and reward success.
Why do you think more companies do not follow such practices to reap the benefits of happy workers? Unfortunately, some companies lose sight of the fact that their employees are their most valuable asset. We have invested significantly in our recruiting and learning and development functions to ensure we have the best employees and are providing them with the tools to be wildly successful. In addition, we often think of marketing from the inside out. As employees, we all need to be energized and inspired. We invest in quarterly meetings, an amazing annual user conference and many other events that accelerate learning, fun, relationship-building and inspiration.