| January 2007 |
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| Dice job listings were up 42% in the fourth quarter |
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| Sorting through current employment statistics and predictions for Sacramento can be a bit tricky. While the city has a low overall unemployment rate of just 3.9%, the Sacramento Regional Research Institute warned in November that while job growth was still on the rise and was ahead of the pace of California and the country as a whole, it was slowing and presented a cause for concern. Yet workers don't seem to share that worry. The monthly Spherion Employment Report for November showed statewide worker optimism rising, with especially strong optimism felt in the Sacramento area. IT staffing consultancy Robert Half Technology, whose first-quarter IT Hiring Index was just released, found that 18% of Sacramento CIOs plan to make new hires this quarter, so perhaps the IT workforce has reason to be optimistic.
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There's plenty to be optimistic about in the latest Dice job listings. Sacramento showed a remarkable 42% jump in listings in the fourth quarter. "This is the best performance of all the cities we track," said Scot Melland, CEO of Dice. "Sacramento is a great place to be job hunting as the New Year kicks off." Melland also noted that according to the Dice Salary Survey, the average IT salary in Sacramento was up 3.93% in 2006.
What kind of jobs are out there? Robert Half Technology conducted a survey which found that 77% of CIOs ranked Windows administration as the skill set most in demand at their IT sites, followed by 71% who said workers with network administration skills are in demand. The CIOs, who were given the chance to list multiple responses, ranked database management skills in third place.
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| "This past year there was a big push by companies to hire permanent employees" |
| - Erik Fleischman, branch manager of Sapphire Technologies |
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Erik Fleischman, branch manager for IT recruiter Sapphire Technologies, takes the pulse of the IT job market every day. He said he saw the most demand for Java, .NET, C#, ASP.NET, and VB.NET developers in the finance healthcare, and telecom sectors but cautioned that, "There are more candidates than available jobs in this area. I have noticed managers have become very picky."
Fleischman added that, "The IT industry flourished in 2006. We usually see the majority of the work to be contract positions, but this past year there was a big push by companies to hire permanent employees. Managers seem to keep developing new projects and expanding, and we see no indicators as of now of it slowing down."
Local IT expert Paul Wilton might disagree with that assessment. A Dice user, he said he sees the most hiring action in temporary and contract positions. "The industry used to hire administrators and engineers as full time employees, but over time that's become less cost-effective for most companies. Since most projects can be completed in three to six months, we come and go without benefits and always wonder where the next project is going to come from. It's pretty hectic!"
It should also be noted that statewide, a lively R&D climate is in full effect. In late December, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the Governor's Research and Innovation Initiative, a $95 million budget item that hopes to bring several big research projects involving petascale computers, biotech, and alternative energy research to the state's university system. As Schwarzenegger put it, "With some of the world's finest universities and research institutions, the Golden State has more scientists, engineers and researchers and invests more on research and development than any other state. As a leader in developing new technologies, California will reap tremendous rewards for our economy and environment from this investment in our innovation infrastructure."
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 Sacramento are up 24% since Jan. |
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