Report: Companies need contract workers

U.S. economic growth may be hindered if companies experience a shortage of highly skilled contract workers, according to a new report from Minneapolis-based HotGigs Inc. The report reveals 30 of the most desirable skill sets for the contract IT worker. The report, available for download at www.hotgigs.com/articles, also shows that companies can expect to pay 10 to 20 percent more for IT contractors in 2006 as they ramp up new projects.

Contract workers accounted for about one-third of all new jobs created in the United States between 2002 and 2004. HotGigs' report shows that project managers (15 percent of searches) were the most sought-after contract workers. Companies are specifically seeking project managers with experience managing teams of 15 or more employees, as well as those with a background in program management, infrastructure project management, and project change management.

The report also showed strong demand for networking engineers (9 percent of searches), especially in wireless networking and in network security. Specifically, network professionals who can handle setup and support of local area networks (LANs), network security, network architecture, Cisco, and TCP/IP are most desired.

Web developers ranked third (8 percent of searches) among the most favored IT professionals, with top languages being ASP.Net, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and XML.

Apex IT, Dynamic merge

Minneapolis-based CRM consultant Apex IT and Minneapolis-based Dynamic Information Systems merged. The firm will operate under the Apex IT brand with a combined management team.

Apex IT, a consultant to businesses using Oracle CRM applications, will capitalize on Dynamic's reputation as one of the premier Oracle E-Business Suite systems integrators and implementers in the nation.

Survey tracks adoption of new technology

Affordability, fear of disruption to business operations and apprehension about integrating new technology with old are the top reasons small business owners hesitate to embrace technological innovation, according to a recent survey by the Dallas-based Yankee Group.

The biggest challenge for more than 50 percent of small business managers with 20 to 99 employees is the integration of different applications and systems that currently stand alone. More than 40 percent are concerned their technology needs are not being met as a result of an insufficient IT staff.

IT hiring continues decline

The Hudson Employment Index for IT workers fell 4.4 points to 104.6 in February, marking the second consecutive decline for this sector's reading. All factors influencing the Index, including hiring expectations, perceptions of personal finances, perceived job security and job satisfaction, reported declines in February. The most notable changes were in regards to hiring and job security. The number of workers reporting their employer had plans to hire fell from 38 percent to 33 percent, while the number concerned about job loss rose from 22 percent to 28 percent.

VoIP adoption booming

The number of residential VoIP customers (not including PC-to-PC services) more than tripled to 4.2 million in 2005 and is expected to grow by a compound annual rate of 43.9 percent through 2009, reaching 18.0 million. This was on the heels of an eightfold increase from 150,000 at the end of 2003 to 1.2 million at the end of 2004, according to the Arlington, Va., Telecommunications Industry Association's 2006 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast.

The U.S. broadband market has grown from 4.5 million subscribers in 2000 to 41.3 million subscribers in 2005 and is expected to grow an additional 28 million to 69.2 million by 2009, a 13.8 compound annual increase.

VoIP revenue has had a growth pattern similar to residential VoIP subscribers. VoIP revenue increased from $25 million in 2003 to $200 million in 2004 and $1.1 billion in 2005. Revenue is projected to increase 46.7 percent on a compound annual rate through 2009, reaching $5.1 billion.

Got a local news story? Let us know about it. Send your local news to dan@computeruser.com.