A thriving information security job market combined with an aging baby boomer population equals a lot of IT workers looking for new jobs, a new survey has found.
Forty eight percent of IT workers are likely to leave their jobs in the next year, according to the quarterly IT Employment Report from Spherion. That number is up from 39 percent in the final quarter of 2005, the survey showed.
Employers are more actively recruiting skilled IT professionals because of the strong job market, increased competition among IT departments and a growing sect of retiring baby boomers.
"Right now, it’s clearly an employee’s market for IT workers," said Brendan Courtney, senior vice president of Spherion Professional Services. "A technology renaissance has intersected with a time in which aging boomers are exiting the workforce and moving into retirement."
Although nearly half of the IT workforce is planning to jump ship in the next year, job security remains high, the survey showed. Seventy percent of the 571 IT workers polled by the survey, conducted by Harris Interactive this winter, said it was unlikely they would lose their jobs in the next year.
"Thanks to the success of companies leading the latest Web 2.0 boom and an increase in IT projects, new ‘me too’ start-ups are getting funded every day and are proving to be attractive employers," Courtney said. "Open positions being left by retiring boomers also must be filled, so you can see how the job-seeker has the clear advantage."
