More firms in the Chicago and South Florida markets have open finance/accounting and IT positions in the first quarter than in the fourth quarter, according to a survey released by staffing provider Brilliant. Businesses also plan to increase their overall hiring plans in the next 12 months, especially for IT.

Brilliant’s survey found 40% of businesses in the two markets had openings in full-time, permanent accounting and finance roles, up slightly from 38% in a similar survey conducted in the previous quarter. Looking at IT, 28% reported having vacant full-time, permanent positions in IT, up from the 19% reported last quarter.

“While the overall number of open accounting and finance jobs exceeded IT positions, the change during the past year was dominated by a sharp rise in the number of available IT positions,” said Richard Curtin, director of surveys of consumers at the University of Michigan, who conducted the survey with Brilliant.

Additionally, 26% of companies said they plan to increase IT hiring in the next 12 months — up from 9% in the fourth quarter’s survey — and 22% plan to increase their finance/accounting hiring, up from 17% last quarter.

Survey participants reported mixed plans to hire temporary/contract professionals.

Eleven percent of IT firms expect to use temporary professionals, according to the Q1 survey, down from 19% in the previous survey.

For accounting/finance firms, 18% plan to use temporary professionals in the first-quarter, twice the 9% reported in the previous survey.

“Our study brings important insight into the future of the accounting, finance and information technology professions, and the overall health of the labor market,” said Brilliant President Jeff Mariola. “We remain optimistic that consistent and elevated numbers of open positions and plans to hire indicate continued growth at least in the near term.”

The survey included close to 300 human resources professionals and hiring managers within the greater Chicago and South Florida markets. It was conducted between Oct. 24 and Nov. 6, 2017.