Executives at large companies are using tactics to retain talent and meet critical business demands.
O Gartner, a world leader in business research and advice, announces that CIOs' 81% (Chief Executive Officers) of large enterprises plan to increase IT headcount in 2023. Only 14% expect their IT staff to decrease and 5% expect headcount to remain the same.
Jose Ramirez, Senior Analyst at Gartner
“Attracting and retaining technology talent remains critical and of concern for CIOs,” he says. Joseph Ramirez, a senior analyst at Gartner. “Even with advances in Artificial Intelligence, Gartner predicts that the global impact on work will be neutral in the coming years due to the delays we will have in corporate adoption, the time required for implementation and the learning curves”, says the analyst, noting that Gartner research was conducted from October to November 2022 on more than 500 IT executives from large enterprises, with revenues of more than US$ 1 billion, from North America, Europe and Asia.
Why CIOs plan to increase IT headcount in 2023
“Companies have invested in a variety of digital initiatives over the past two years, with operational excellence and customer experience being the most popular activities,” explains Ramirez. Still, he says, these initiatives often don't meet companies' needs quickly enough. Proof of this is that 67% of large enterprise CIOs plan to increase IT headcount in 2023 by at least 10% to support their companies' digital initiatives.
As CIOs look to expand their IT staff, many have faced hiring hurdles due to economic conditions. Because of prevailing economic volatility, 41% of large enterprise CIOs report slow hiring for IT roles, 35% indicate reduced IT budgets, and 29% report a freeze in technology hires.
Source: Gartner (June 2023)
“CIOs are taking proactive steps to combat economic volatility by relaxing geographic and role requirements to expand the pipeline of IT talent,” says Ramirez.
Gartner research also found that full-time professionals (FTEs) make up the majority of technical staff at large enterprises. IT employees full-time workers perform 56% of activities, while technological advances, such as automation and work streamlined by Artificial Intelligence, represent just over 9% of actions. “This dependence on full-time employees to meet the demands of digital transformation explains the reason that motivates CIOs of large companies to plan to increase their teams of IT specialists in 2023”, says the Gartner analyst.
How CIOs plan to hone IT talent
With the growing demand for IT talent, CIOs at large enterprises are looking during the hiring process for the necessary technical knowledge, soft skills (eg, communication, relationship management) and cultural fit capabilities. CIOs at large enterprises cite cybersecurity, cloud platforms and customer experience as the three most critical technical skills in 2023.
Almost half of the CIOs of large companies intend to invest in training programs to improve and requalify the IT team, ensuring that the teams have relevant functions, skills and capabilities to meet the objectives of the companies. 46% of CIOs plan to merge teams and automate workflows to free up IT time for new roles.
“Recruiting the right IT specialist takes time and planning, especially for skills like systems architecture, cybersecurity, cloud computing and agile software development,” says Ramirez. “Gartner's recommendation is to ensure that IT has relevant roles, skills and capabilities to meet business objectives. This may require adopting a workforce model that combines IT with business expertise.”
Learn more about the top priorities for CIOs and technology executives at CIO Agenda 2023.
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