Can You Keep Your IT Staff in 2012?
IT staff retention is shaping up to be one of the biggest challenges facing CIOs in 2012.
Fri, December 23, 2011
Network World — IT staff retention is shaping up to be one of the biggest challenges facing CIOs in 2012.
More: Gartner: The top 10 strategic technology trends for 2012
Three trends are bringing this issue to the forefront:
Corporate IT hiring is on the rise, tempting IT professionals with higher pay and opportunities for advancement if they switch companies.
Younger techies change jobs frequently, averaging only a year or two in a position before switching
Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age, with an average of 10,000 U.S. citizens turning 65 on a daily basis for the next 18 years.
IT staff turnover is "probably my most significant issue right now and has been for the past 12 to 15 months," says Louis Trebino, CIO and senior vice president at the Harry Fox Agency (HFA), a New York City-based provider of rights management, licensing and royalty services for the music industry.
The CIO's lament: 20-something techies who quit after 1 year
Trebino says he has a loyal staff of developers working on core applications who have been with the company for five to 15 years. But he is experiencing a significant amount of turnover among Java developers, who are staying for a year or less. The turnover on his Web development team is making it harder for HFA to change its business model as the music industry migrates online.
"Without having experienced resources - even nine to 12 months with the company and knowing a bit about our business - it elongates my delivery time," Trebino says. "It puts us in a really uncomfortable position to have this kind of turnover because knowledge keeps walking out the door. We invest in training people and bringing them up to speed to where they need to be, and boom they're gone. That has been my biggest struggle and concern."
IT staff turnover is rebounding from its lowest point in a decade. In 2010, only 3% of IT workers left their jobs voluntarily. In 2011, IT staff turnover jumped to 5%, Gartner says.
Lily Mok, research vice president at Gartner, says CIOs need to evaluate their staff and figure out which personnel are critical to the IT department's success because of their skills and experience and make sure those people feel valued.
"You need to know who is leaving and why they are leaving," Mok says. "Even if you have 1% turnover, that might be too much if these 1% are in critical roles and have critical skills."
