Wanted! Tech Skill Checklist for 2014
Posted January 15th, 2014
The IT industry now employs 4.5 million people – up over 180,000 from 2012. In fact, a recent survey of CIOs found that 16% are planning to expand their teams during the first half of 2014. The numbers are even bigger according to Computerworld, with 32% of companies reporting that they expect to increase IT headcount this year.
So as an IT professional, the demand for your skills remains strong, but (as with most things) some skills are more in demand than others. For 2014, professionals with skills in the following areas will be highly sought after:
- Networking. Thirty-one percent of ComputerWorld respondents said they plan to hire people with networking skills in 2014. Mobile devices and their need to connect to a wireless network are spurring the search for network professionals.
- Mobile applications development. Software developers are expected to be one of the most sought-after professionals this year, but the hottest specialty within application development is likely to be mobile development expertise. Programming languages that support mobile phone apps and web development are extremely popular, and so are the people who know these languages. Android (which is primarily Java) and iOS (which is Objective-C) are the major mobile platforms, but Windows-based phones (using C#) are catching up fast.
- Web development. It is expected HTML5 will “catch fire” in 2014, as is interest in people skilled in this area.
- Data analytics. According to IDC, the volume of global data is expected to reach 35.2 zettabytes by 2020. Companies are looking to gain some type of competitive advantage by developing sophisticated analytics capabilities that can mine this data and provide usable, actionable information.
As nice as this list is, it is important to remember that the technologies that will truly be in highest demand are the ones that have a broad base use. Hot technology skills are always great to have, but if the technology is not being widely used, there are simply not as many jobs available.
For example, even though Microsoft’s SQLServer database engine is losing popularity, Microsoft is still the world’s largest software company and most businesses still use some aspect of its technology. This fact is what is driving demand for people with knowledge of SharePoint, C, C++, Visual Basic.NET, F# and Transact-SQL (to name a few).
As demand increases, so do salaries. Salaries for IT workers – with the right skills – are increasing exponentially and should continue to do so in 2014. For example, SharePoint experts are expected to see a 12% increase in salary next year over 2013, while Microsoft SQL server specialists may reap a 10% increase. C# engineers are likely to see a 9% increase.
So take stock of your skillset. Do you have one of 2014’s hot IT skills? If so, the time might be right for a change. If you are looking for Sacramento tech employment, contact us today.
