Report: IT Workers Less Restless

Fifty percent of IT workers surveyed said they are not likely to look for a new job in the coming months, up from 44 percent last quarter, which may suggest greater satisfaction in their current employment situations, according to a report released Aug. 1 by Spherion, a recruiting and staffing firm.

Down from 48 percent in the first quarter of 2006, only 39 percent of respondents working in IT fields said they will definitely be seeking new employment this quarter.

The report attributes this 9 percent drop to employers placing a greater emphasis on attracting and retaining skilled workers in light of a tighter job market, slowing efficiency gains, labor shortages at certain skill levels and an increase in labor compensation.

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Employee confidence among IT workers is also up in the second quarter, with 58.4 percent responding that they feel good about their personal employment situations, up from 57.1 percent in Q1. In contrast, the overall U.S. work force saw a drop in employee confidence in Q2, down to 57.6 percent from 58.3 percent in Q1.

“The data from this quarters report indicates an increase in confidence among IT workers that they could find new jobs if they wanted to, yet the number of those intending to begin a new job search declined.

These workers are clearly gun-shy about pursuing new jobs despite their availability, which may be the result of employer retention efforts,” Brendan Courtney, senior vice president of Spherion Professional Services, based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said in a statement.

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Thirty-five percent of IT respondents, up from 31 percent in the previous quarter, reported that they feel good about the economy. For respondents not in the IT work force, the number saying they believe the economy is getting stronger dropped by 3 percent.

The number of IT workers who said they feel they are likely to lose their jobs, alhough down 1 percent this quarter to 18 percent, remains 6 percentage points above the number of U.S. workers not in IT fields who expressed that fear, which was 12 percent.

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