Mon, 14 May 2012

Chief information officers (CIOs) are more confident of securing technology budget increases than at any time in the last five years, but there are major talent shortage concerns, finds Harvey Nash’s ‘CIO Technology Survey 2012’.

The survey of 2,400 CIOs and technology leaders across 20 countries was carried out by recruiter Harvey Nash in association with data firm TelecityGroup.

Of all the skills categories listed in the report, mobile, security and social media was the one with the largest growth in skills shortage, with 47% of CIOs saying this shortage is “preventing them from keeping up with the pace of change”.

The survey also finds that over a third of firms have no leaders or managers in technology who are female, with 93% of CIOs themselves being male, a virtually unchanged figure since 2005.
 
Albert Ellis, chief executive of Harvey Nash Group, says: “The innovation which is being driven by the spread of social media and the growth of mobile adoption around the world has provided opportunities for many corporations, but also huge challenges.”
 
Michael Tobin, TelecityGroup chief executive, adds: “As boards look beyond the recession seeking new ways to grow and innovate in an increasingly complex, data-rich world, the role of the CIO has never been more important.”
 
Despite gender imbalance in technical and technological areas, Ellis adds: “I am confident young people of both genders, faced with a challenging jobs market particularly in Europe, will increasingly aspire to be part of the growing success of the technology sector worldwide.”

For more on the situation in the digital media sector, see May’s Recruiter, out 18 May.