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59% of IT leaders feel the ‘traditional’ IT dept no longer exists

Nearly six in ten (59 percent) IT leaders believe the ‘traditional' IT department no longer exists in modern business.

 

New research from Experis claims that IT leaders are seeing growing demands placed on their teams to deliver more services such as cloud computing (61 percent), greater strategic input for critical business decision-making (57 percent) and increasing the use of mobile apps (53 percent).


Experis surveyed 1,000 IT workers and 200 senior IT managers to explore the current and future strategy for the UK's IT department.

 

Nearly three-quarters (69 percent) of IT leaders feel they will become more reliant on temporary and short-term contingent staff as they think they can provide greater flexibility (52 percent), fresh perspectives (49 percent) and unique skills (44 percent). A further 59 percent of IT leaders and workers expect to see a growth in people from non-tech backgrounds entering IT departments over the next two years.

 

The ratio of male and female workers is predicted to shift substantially with more women entering the sector. The percentage is currently 71 percent male and 29 percent female but it is expected to shift to 59 percent male and 41 percent female.

 

IT leaders feel they will have to alter their approach to tech recruitment, with 37 percent expecting to see an increase in social sourcing and a further 33 percent predict crowd sourcing candidates will become commonplace.

 

“Today's tech team dynamic is unsustainable. Businesses and their IT teams need to think about building 2020's optimum team now to support changing demands and achieve digital transformation. It's encouraging to see a rise in female and millennial workers anticipated, as businesses address the current imbalance and recognise the essential skills they can bring,” said Geoff Smith, managing director at Experis.

 

“As IT and business requirements evolve, tech teams and recruitment methods need to be nimble and keep up with change. Using social media channels for identifying and approaching potential candidates isn't new, but the research shows this is growing. Employers and their recruiters will turn to wider online networks and communities to source and regularly engage with individuals – using platforms that will be relevant to the specific candidate skills they are after. However, it's important they use these channels intelligently. Understanding personal interests and experiences of each audience, and building relationships by speaking their ‘language' in the right tone will be critical,” Smith continued.

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