Careers Slideshow: IT Jobs: Robert Half Hiring Forecast, 2Q 2011

9 percent

9 percent of respondents plan to expand their IT departments in 2Q 2011.

2 percent

2 percent of CIOs expect cutbacks in 2Q 2011.

7 percent

The projected net 7 percent increase in hiring is up from a projected net 5 percent in the same period last year. However, it is down from the from the 8 percent increase forecast in Q1 2011.

80 percent

80 percent of respondents are confident in their company's growth prospects for the next three months.

73 percent

73 percent of respondents say they're at least "somewhat optimistic" about the likelihood of their organizations investing in IT projects in the near future.

IT jobs that are most difficult to fill (percent respondents):

Security/networking (13 percent)Applications development (11 percent)Help desk/tech support (10 percent)

IT skillsets that are greatest in demand (percent respondents):

Network administration (65 percent)Windows administration (60 percent)Desktop support (57 percent)Database management (52 percent)

The hottest region for IT hiring?

The South Atlantic, where 15 percent of respondents plan to add staff, while only 1 percent expect cutbacks.

The hottest sector for IT jobs?

Finance/insurance/real estate, where 17 percent of respondents plan to expand their IT departments and none expect to reduce staffing.