Senior IT staff will be less likely to
change jobs during the economic downturn because of a shortage
of challenging projects, according to recruitment company Harvey
Nash.
"There are not as many sexy appointments out there," said Matt
Smith, director of UK regions at Harvey Nash. "The major projects
which really see IT interface with the business are not coming
around as regularly. There is no point moving from one company to
another if you are just performing the same role."
As well as a shortage of challenging roles, CIOs are also
reluctance to move jobs because of their own economic uncertainty,
he said.
"There is going to be less churn because there is a level of
nervousness around the economy and it is seen as better to stay in
an organisation you know and understand."
Despite this, senior IT professionals are actively keeping an
eye out for new opportunities.
Harvey Nash's latest survey of 360 CIOs reveals that 72% of IT
leaders are looking for a new job and a total of 63% are expecting
to
move on from their current jobwithin two
years.
But because of economic uncertainty the actual number who will
change roles is likely to be a lot lower, said Smith.
The same survey last year cited new challenges, which include
large transformational IT projects, as the main reason for CIOs
looking for new jobs, but these challenges no longer exist.