Tech Talent

Competition for IT professionals continues among Twin Cities tech companies and businesses with IT departments. In many areas, there’s an abundance of openings, yet a shortage of skilled candidates. Drivers of IT hiring include a renewed focus on systems upgrades and keeping pace with rapid technological changes. Improvements that can enhance security, streamline processes or generate revenue are at the top of the “need-to-have” list for many CIOs.

Following are six tech professionals in high demand in Minnesota:

1. System and networking engineers: Network administration remains the skill set in greatest demand, cited by 63 percent of CIOs in the Robert Half Technology Q4 IT Hiring Index. Those who are experts in cloud computing, software as a service and virtualization are sought, as well as those who combine skills in server, software and networking.

2. Security professionals: Data security and protection, especially in industries such as banking and health care, will continue to be a hot area within technology.

3. Developers: Those skilled in .NET, Java, PHP, Silverlight, my SQL and portal technologies, such as SharePoint, are in high demand.

4. End-User support professionals: Technical support professionals are needed to help employees take full and immediate advantage of upgrades and new technology.

5. Quality assurance professionals and business analysts: With more dollars available for IT projects, managers are focusing on quality control and assembling more accurate project requirements. Quality assurance professionals can relieve developers so they can focus on coding, while business analysts can help build trust among stakeholders and serve as go-betweens for technology and business.

6. Data warehousing and business intelligence professionals: Firms need immediate information that can help them move their business in the right direction. That’s why they seek business intelligence and data warehousing professionals who can gather increasing amounts of data from various streams.

« Kathy Northamer is district president of Robert Half Technology in Minneapolis. Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis. roberthalftechnology.com.