You can always count on the local Chamber of Commerce to look on the bright side. Reacting to a recent report about Atlanta's population growth, Chamber President Sam A. Williams said, "We've got the world's busiest airport, the third-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the nation, cutting-edge research universities that attract young professionals from all over the globe, the lowest cost of doing business in the nation, and plenty of sunshine. Combine all that with the fact that Atlanta is the business capital of the Southeast, and it's easy to see why people are coming here in droves."

In 2006, metro Atlanta added 60,000 jobs across all industries, and IT was no exception. Listen to Travis Reding, branch manager for IT recruiter Sapphire Technologies. "If our activity is any indication, the IT employment climate in the Atlanta area is as competitive as we have seen in many years. The number of open jobs is clearly outpacing our totals from 2006. That's indicative of a healthy IT employment landscape, which is exciting for our local economic outlook."

IT staffing consultancy Robert Half Technology, whose second-quarter IT Hiring Index was just released, finds that 13% of Atlanta-area CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter. According to Beth Herman, Manpower spokeswoman, the second-quarter Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which covers all industries, has found that from April to June, 20% of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while none expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 78% expect to maintain their current staff levels.

What kinds of positions are most in demand? According to Sapphire's Reding, "The demand for project managers and business analysts are increasing, and that's indicative of increasing IT budgets on a project basis." Another way to identify the positions that are most promising is to see what successful local companies are looking for. For example, Business 2.0 magazine identified Atlanta Global Payments as one of the city's fastest growing companies. A perusal of its job listings shows a need for business system analysts, QA managers, IT auditors, network operators, and IP engineers.

In fact, said Reding, there's no current need to look to the government sector as a job hunting backup. "IT employment opportunities in government are prevalent, but the pay structure for those positions doesn't reflect today's tight supply of candidates and the high demand for their services."

At Dice, the number of job listings for the Atlanta area rose an impressive 25% in the first quarter and is at its highest mark in two years, indicating there is work out there for those who want it.