Network World — There's plenty of reason for optimism about IT jobs. CIOs are ramping up hiring, average salaries are climbing, and companies are increasing their investments in core tech areas such as security, mobility and data analytics. Concerns about the economy and budget battles on Capitol Hill have put a damper on the IT job scene, but not enough to thwart expansion.

"We're seeing robust growth in IT jobs, both on the contract side and on the permanent/direct hire side," says Matthew Ripaldi, senior vice president at IT staffing specialist Modis. "It's broad-based, as well. We're seeing growth in a lot of different geographies, across a number of different industries, and in companies of all sizes."

So far, the need to ramp up staffing is trumping reservations about the economy.