According to a survey conducted by analyst firm Computer Economics earlier this year, 46% of all IT organizations surveyed say they plan to reduce headcount this year, compared to 27% that will increase their headcounts. Another 27% of IT organizations in the study said their staffing levels would remain unchanged this year. All told, the median headcount of IT departments surveyed is expected to remain unchanged.

“Our expectation is that while the recession may be over, as the treasury secretary suggests, IT spending and hiring will remain restrained throughout the remainder of this year,” says John Longwell, an analyst for Computer Economics. “I would look for an uptick in hiring of contract and temporary workers as the first sign of a recovery. The PC vendors and equipment manufacturers are also reporting improvements, so that is another good early sign that spending is loosening up.”

But regardless of the dour climate for those seeking jobs in the sector, the economy’s rebound should eventually positively affect IT employment. When that does happen, getting the right staff in place will prove all that more challenging as the talent pool shrinks.

Here is a look at some ways that you can plan for hiring when the IT sector does rebound and how to find the right talent when you need it.

Take Advantage Of The Lull

The hiring situation and the effects of the economy in general have taken their toll on IT departments as well as enterprises in general this year. In IT departments that have slashed staff or have instituted hiring freezes, admins are increasingly forced to take on more job responsibilities and tasks without extra pay to fill in the manpower gap. But one way to make the most of a not-so-great situation is to use the lull in hiring to prepare for when you get the green light to start hiring again. Instead of waiting for the next up cycle, now is the time to actively search and get ready to recruit, says Chris Tratar, senior director of product marketing for talent management services provider Taleo (www.taleo.com).

“We have seen that many of our customers are planning ahead and building up talent pools even during the downturn,” Tratar says. “This way, they will have a ready pool of talent to choose from instead of having to start a traditional recruiting process when they start to get more budget.”

Looking ahead is part of what Tratar calls the talent pool concept. “There are certain skill sets that are hard to fill in the IT industry, regardless of whether there are a lot of people out of work or not,” Tratar says. “Even if you are not hiring today, then you can have the visibility to hire the talent you need in the future.”

Don’t Jump The Gun

Understaffed IT departments face a number of issues, ranging from unhappy end users who equate a lack of support with bad service to the low morale of admins who have way too much of a workload than what is reasonable. If comments in IT-related forums serve as an indication, common complaints among admins are that they are really doing the work of two admins without extra compensation or are unable to specialize in a particular area because of the varied tasks they have to perform.

Unfortunately, the trend to do more with less will likely continue, even when the IT employment situation gets better and there is more money for new hires, says Roger Kay, founder and president of the analyst firm Endpoint Technologies Associates (www.ndpta.com). “Doing more with less is a requirement these days, and rather than hire new staff, IT managers are looking to automate more routine processes to free up existing staff to do higher value-add projects, which will improve the company’s competitive position or make workers more efficient,” Kay says.

Still, many IT departments might err on the side of overstaffing, which carries with it inherent risks and pitfalls. Managers should thus weigh budgets for new hires extra carefully in the future, Kay says.

“Hiring of new staff members should wait until incremental revenues flow in so that the IT department doesn’t have a negative effect on cash flow,” Kay says.

Go The Temp Route

Hiring temporary workers can serve as a relatively inexpensive way to help handle today’s needs before the day comes when there is enough of a budget to add more staff to the IT department.

“The other strategy that many companies now generally use, especially in IT-related industries, is hiring temporary or contract labor and then converting them to full-time employees,” Tratar says. “This reduces their initial investment and enables them to hire only the top performers when they get the budget.”

Think Strategically

Staffing in the future will involve matching emerging technologies and data center applications with specialized skill sets of new hires, says Rob Enderle, principal analyst for Enderle Group. “[IT departments] will need to have folks on staff who can manage an increasing number of service providers and handle a diverse blend of internal and external resources,” Enderle says.

Determining the skill sets that will be needed when it is time to hire again is part of thinking strategically and “getting outside of tactical thinking,” Enderle says.

“You don’t want to hire people to deal with today’s problems—you can get services and temps for that. Instead, you need to hire for the problems and projects you will be taking on as budgets are relieved,” Enderle says. “This means the skill sets will likely be different and the teams built around future needs, not current ones.”

by Bruce Gain