IT jobs are likely to be the hardest-to-recruit occupational category across all fields. According to the WANTED Analytics Hiring Scale, computer occupations score an 80, up 4 points since we reported on The Hardest-to-Fill Occupational Fields in the US in August 2013. The Hiring Scale factors in supply and demand, salary, local and national conditions, unemployment rates, job site sources, and other factors to determine how difficult-to-fill a job is likely to be on average throughout the US. The score ranges from 1 - 99, with 99 indicating hardest-to-fill. We compared the current Hiring Scale scores for some of the most in-demand IT jobs to their scores in August 2013 to see if they are getting harder or easier to recruit.

Hiring Scale Scores for the In-Demand IT Jobs

For some IT jobs, Hiring Scale scores varied during the past year. As market conditions change, it is likely that recruiting difficulty will change also. In August 2013, Software Developers (Applications) scored a 75. Currently, Software Developers score a 78, 3 points higher than its previous score. Other positions with significant increases in recruiting difficulty were Computer User Support Specialists and Computer Systems Analysts, increasing in difficulty by 6 to 8 points. The remaining jobs listed experienced smaller fluctuations.

Nearly all of the above occupations increased in the difficulty-to-fill over the past 7 months. Software Developers, Network and Computer Systems Administrators, Computer Systems Analysts, Computer User Support Specialists, and Database Administrators saw higher Hiring Scale scores. Computer Programmers are slightly less difficult-to-fill. However, each of these jobs still have high scores meaning that they will all be challenging to recruit.

If you plan on adding these jobs to your workforce, what can you do to overcome increasing difficulties? One way is to relocate talent from an area with a lower score or advertise job openings in areas with larger candidate pools. For example, Network and Computer Systems Administrators score the highest of the IT jobs listed above. However, there are locations with more favorable recruiting conditions for this talent, such as Flint, MI, which scores a 15. This location is currently experiencing low demand. However, they also have a smaller candidate supply. Olympia, WA, is another alternate recruiting location. This area also has a lower score, 5, and has a larger talent pool than Flint.

Hiring Scale Snapshots for Network Administrators in Flint, MI, and Olympia, WA

Visit WANTED Analytics to learn how to find out what these jobs score in your area.