| January 2007 |
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| The hiring trends look positive across a wide range of industries |
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| If you're looking to move your IT career ahead, it helps to live in a city with a strong appreciation for technology. That's certainly the case in Atlanta, which Forbes magazine identified as the most wired of 30 American cities it surveyed in 2006, placing first in the availability of broadband access options and third in Wi-Fi access points. eWeek magazine agrees, calling Atlanta its number two "Blooming City for U.S. Tech," coming in just behind Seattle in a June 2006 survey.
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For Web designer Jesse Heady, a little patience was all it took. After getting a response to his Dice listing, he had to wait three months for a call back and second interview, but now he's working full time and enjoying it.
"Atlanta remains an extremely hot market for IT professionals," said Travis Reding, branch manager of Sapphire Technologies, an IT recruiter. With unemployment rates at near record lows for highly trained individuals, supply and demand are supporting a candidate-driven IT market."
Where should job hunters be looking? "The services industries such as financial, healthcare, and telecom have continued to flourish," said Reding. "The only industry of note that has seen a few bumps is travel with the changes that the airline industry has gone through."
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| "If you are looking to work within many different verticals throughout your career, Atlanta offers a unique opportunity to do so" |
| - Travis Reding, branch manager of Sapphire Technologies |
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The numbers seem to back up Reding's comments. IT staffing consultancy Robert Half Technology, whose first-quarter IT Hiring Index was just released, finds that 11% of Atlanta CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter, and The Hudson Employment Index, a measure of overall optimism of employees, stands at 115.0, significantly above the national average of 105.3. The first-quarter Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which tracks employment in all industries, says that from January to March, 17% of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while none expect to reduce their payrolls, according to Manpower spokesperson Beth Herman. Another 81% expect to maintain their current staff levels.
Though those numbers are down from the same period a year ago, Manpower reports that job prospects appear best in construction, non-durable goods manufacturing, wholesale/retail trade, finance/insurance/real estate and services, a good clue for IT job hunters looking to target their searches. Sapphire's Reding said, "In Atlanta we are heavily entrenched in both the telecommunications and financial services industry, and business in these verticals remains healthy." He added, "Software engineers, project managers and business analysts are the most prevalently requested positions." One way to get a sense of what's available out there is to check current job listings at Emory University, IBM, and BellSouth, all three of which are among Atlanta's largest IT employers.
At Dice, some seasonal softness was in effect as the number of available job listings dipped in the fourth quarter, but with almost 3,000 listings available, there are still many opportunities out there.
"Do a little research to look for the hottest sectors in the local economy, such as healthcare and telecom," said Scot Melland, CEO of Dice. "That's the best way to track down the best jobs as quickly as possible."
Reding identified new opportunities within the pharmaceutical industry and encouraged IT experts to take advantage of the diversity of Atlanta's industrial base. "If you are looking to work within many different verticals throughout your career, Atlanta offers a unique opportunity to do so," he said.
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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