| October 2006 |
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The Detroit metro area is experiencing a growth spurt in its IT job sector this quarter, and analysts predict the trend will continue.
Sean Brady, Detroit’s branch manager of Sapphire Technologies, a national IT staffing firm, said the IT job market has continued to show signs of strength, as more and more vertical industries vie for IT talent.
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“It's interesting that, although employers aren’t generally spending a lot of money, from what we’ve seen, the tech market is really showing significant growth,” said Brady, who noted that much of the development is focused outside the auto industry in verticals such as finance, healthcare, energy and technology.
In fact, recent surveys support Brady’s contention that demand for IT professionals is increasing. Employers in the Detroit metro area expect to hire at a steady pace during the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.
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| "Employers have considerably more positive hiring intentions than they did a year ago" |
| - Denise DeSantis, Manpower Employment |
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From October to December, 23% of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 4% expect to reduce their payrolls, according to Manpower spokesperson Denise DeSantis. Another 69% expect to maintain their current staff levels. “Employers have considerably more positive hiring intentions than they did a year ago when 20% of companies surveyed thought employment increases were likely and 23% intended to cut back,” said DeSantis.
And those opportunities can be seen in several other indicators. According to Dice, job listings have climbed since January, up an impressive 17% to 1,074 by the end of September.
“Detroit is an interesting case,” said Scot Melland, CEO of Dice. “While the auto industry is obviously the region’s biggest, from everything we are hearing, tech job growth has centered on smaller, newer industries.” And those companies operating in these industries expect to see hiring increase through the end of the year. The Robert Half Technology Q4 IT Hiring Index finds that a net 12% of Detroit CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter.
Detroit resident Vikki Williamson, a tech analyst who landed her last two positions through Dice, said she has noticed more opportunities appearing in the market over the past few quarters. “There are more tech jobs in different fields that I wasn’t necessarily seeing just a few years ago,” she said.
However, pay in Detroit doesn’t rank very high among other major American cities. Tech professionals in the Detroit area reported earning an average salary of $65,300, according to a survey by Dice. On the plus side, the cost of living is relatively low. "In all, the tech sector in Detroit is in pretty good shape,” said Melland. “Although the pay doesn’t tip the scale, the area is making up for that with plenty of opportunities in a diverse range of industries.”
If you would like to be interviewed for the next Dice market report, or if you have comments about this article, please contact us at feedback@dice.com.
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| Dice job postings in Detroit are up 17% since Jan. |
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