Despite economic uncertainty and a potential recession looming, technology firms are optimistic about 2023: When asked to assess the health of the technology industry on a scale of 1 to 10, ratings from U.S. organizations averaged 6.8, according to CompTIA’s 2023 IT Industry Outlook.
CompTIA also found that 80 percent of IT professionals feel optimistic about their role. Although no one can say with absolute certainty what 2023 has in store for the tech industry, experts’ predictions paint a promising picture for IT career growth, with plenty of demand for technical skills as businesses continue to tackle digital transformation and aim to stay relevant in an increasingly high-tech world. Here are a few notable IT and security recruiting trends to watch during the upcoming year.
1. IT and cybersecurity pros will have the upper hand as demand outpaces the talent supply.
Many businesses have realized that information technology should be an essential part of overall strategy and is vital for long-term success, according to CompTIA. Subsequently, the demand for tech skills has outpaced the supply, which means those in the field have their pick of opportunities. Similarly, the ongoing global security talent shortage means that cybersecurity professionals will likely have plenty of negotiating power and positions available.
“Over the past year, technology job postings have been plentiful and tech unemployment has been incredibly low,” CompTIA’s 2023 outlook states. “There is no reason to expect a huge change to the situation in 2023.”
2. Internal IT hiring is slowing down as managed services growth speeds up.
In 2023, 31 percent of IT departments plan to add staff members, down from 40 percent in 2022, according to The 2023 State of IT report by Spiceworks Ziff Davis (SWZD). Meanwhile, managed services are expected to account for 18 percent of overall IT budgets in 2023, up from 15 percent in 2020.
Those statistics suggest that many businesses have chosen to invest in outsourced IT support instead of in-house IT staff to sustain technological advancement while containing costs. Tech professionals might find promising opportunities in managed IT services and managed cybersecurity.
3. Multi-cloud strategies will create greater demand for orchestration and FinOps capabilities.
The increasingly popular multi-cloud approach has led to a growing need for orchestration skills, according to CompTIA.
“This distributed approach to technology procurement has created flexibility while also creating a management headache,” the organization’s outlook states. “Someone – most likely someone on an IT infrastructure team – now needs to oversee the big picture across the organization.”
Additionally, as adopting additional cloud solutions tends to drive up costs, CompTIA predicts that FinOps roles – which involve managing cloud architecture and finances simultaneously – are gaining prominence and will continue to grow in importance in 2023 and beyond.
4. Zero-trust security will feed the need for specialized security skills.
A zero-trust approach to cybersecurity will likely be the go-to methodology in 2023 as businesses combat sophisticated and rapidly evolving threats. That will create demand for roles such as ethical hackers, penetration testers, network security analysts, security architects, security engineers, chief security officers, and security automation engineers, according to the TECHEAD article “Technology Trends That Will Shape Your Recruitment Drive in 2023.”
5. The growing ubiquity of artificial intelligence will fuel demand for AI experts.
TECHEAD predicts that artificial intelligence will make some roles obsolete but will also create new ones. As businesses deploy AI to inform decision-making and optimize operations, they’ll seek AI and machine learning engineers as well as AI architects.
If you’re interested in learning more about IT and security trends to watch in 2023, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Stratosphere team. Connect with us today by calling 877-599-3999 or emailing sales@stratospherenetworks.com.