NSAMERICAS STAFF REPORT

A new survey suggests many technology executives may share a common holiday wish: more support. Forty-three percent of chief information officers (CIOs) interviewed said their IT departments are understaffed in relation to current workloads.

The survey was developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis, and conducted by an independent research firm. It was based on telephone interviews with more than 1,400 CIOs from companies across the United States with 100 or more employees.

CIOs were asked, “How would you describe the staffing level of your IT department in relation to current workloads?” Their responses:

    Very understaffed                    10%
    Somewhat understaffed                33%
    At the appropriate staff level       53%
    Somewhat overstaffed                  3%
    Don't know/no answer                  1%
                                         ---
                                        100%

Within the professional services sector, CIOs in the health services industry noted an even greater discrepancy between staff levels and workloads, with more than half (52 percent) reporting that their departments are understaffed.

“Many companies have cut technology staff levels too deeply, making it challenging for IT departments to keep pace with demands,” said Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology. “Although businesses may be able to operate with stretched teams in the short term, being perpetually understaffed isn’t sustainable and can detract from the overall productivity and morale of the organization.”

To keep projects on track and prevent burnout, Willmer recommends that IT managers bring in extra support, if only for a short duration. “Contract professionals can assist with workload spikes or major one-time projects, relieving the burden on existing staff and ensuring the timely completion of mission-critical initiatives. Hiring on an interim basis also is a good way to evaluate someone for a full-time role.”

About the Survey

The national survey was developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis, and conducted by an independent research firm. The survey is based on more than 1,400 telephone interviews with CIOs from a random sample of U.S. companies with 100 or more employees. In order for the survey to be statistically representative, the sample was stratified by geographic region, industry and number of employees. The results were then weighted to reflect the proper proportions of the number of employees within each region.

The margin of error for this study is +/- 2.6 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence.

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