1 out of 7 IT staffers are now contractors

This tidbit just in from the researchers at Computer Economics: 15% of the IT staffs at large organizations consists of contractors, versus regular salaried employees. This continues a trend that arose last year, part of a four-fold increase in the past two years.

There are three ways to look at this. One, as Computer Economics points out, this jump represents an increase in IT workloads, as already-overworked IT departments are asked to work on mobile applications, big data initiatives, and other projects. IT may be losing budget and clout to marketing departments’ technology initiatives, but organizations are leaning on IT to deliver them to the next phase of digital nirvana.

Second is the possibility that IT executives and their companies just don’t want to hire full-time people to keep costs low, so they’re turning to contract help. Computer Economics also speculates that the 30-hour threshold for mandatory health care may also be fueling the use of contract staff.

SOURCE: zdnet.com