A new study forecasts more long-term spending in IT--and more emphasis on staffing.

IT management research firm Computer Economics recently released some telling numbers of the state of IT spending.

The firm’s study of 2011 spending trends revealed one thing we already knew: That IT leaders will be forced to keep doing more with less in the coming year.

But it also offered a glimmer of hope: That IT organizations are getting the blessing to go ahead with riskier or long-term projects that will deliver business value.

Some of the most striking findings came in the staffing area. To quote from a snippet of the overall report:

“The good news continues: not only are IT organizations giving staff members more hours, they are hiring contractors and temporary workers and turning to outsourcing. The net trends for these two actions are 31% and 24%, respectively. These actions are a prelude to making a commitment to take on permanent, full-time workers.

“However, the net trend for increasing the size of the IT staff is only 13%. The message seems to be that while companies are increasing IT operational spending, the commitment is still soft, and IT executives are willing to pay a bit of a premium to maintain a flexible workforce.”

Are you looking at the same spending trends in your organization? What budgeting trends are you seeing for 2011 in terms of staffing, hiring, etc?

Back to Workforce News