The technology skills shortage is at its highest level since 2008, according to the 2019 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey released by IT staffing firm Harvey Nash Inc. And the three most-scarce tech skills include big data/analytics with 44% of CIOs citing it as most scarce; cybersecurity with 39% pointing to it; and artificial intelligence, cited by 39%.

“Companies are having the hardest time in more than a decade finding the technology talent they need,” said Sean Gilligan, president, technology recruitment, North America, Harvey Nash.

“One of the growing trends we are now seeing is the client requesting professionals who have more of a hybrid of skills — someone with expertise in multiple cloud platforms, a software engineer experienced in DevOps, or a front-end developer who can do mobile,” Gilligan said. “Having these blended capabilities is a major asset for companies of all sizes, but it is rare.”

Harvey Nash’s survey included responses from 3,645 CIOs and technology leaders in 108 countries. It was conducted between Dec. 13 and April 4.