Staffing Industry Analysts’ recently published “Workforce Solutions Buyer Survey” report for the Americas region looks at trends among contingent workforce managers and other buyers of staffing. It found that 55% of respondents said they spent the most on the IT skill set, eclipsing the next highest spend of 14% on industrial occupations. In this month’s IT newsletter, we will examine a few of the most pertinent findings among those buyers who reported spending primarily on the IT skill segment.

Remote work and the expectation for it going forward is still very strong in IT. Buyers of IT staffing reported 80% of contingent workers are currently working primarily remotely, with 70% expected to be working primarily remotely in two years. This compares to 50% both now and in two years in all segments and only 10% now and 15% in two years at buyers of industrial staffing.

We also asked about assignment limits by contingent worker segment. In the IT segment, the most common contingent worker assignment length limit was 18 to 23 months (reported by 40% of respondents who had assignment limits). A limit of 24 months was reported by 38% for the IT segment, which is higher than the 27% reported for all occupations. Only 4% noted IT assignment length of less than one year. This aligns with the logic that some skill sets are more difficult to replace, and higher paying roles (like IT) will often have longer assignments due to the nature of the work and intellectual property workers hold. Also, 42% reported IT segment contingent workers had no limits. 

In terms of staffing agency rate structure usage, the most common structure amongst companies using primarily IT skills was max bill rates (used by 67%), wherein bill rates are capped with respect to job title, agency or geography, but candidate pay rates are flexible. Conversely, open bill rates were used by only 17% of IT buyers. Leaving rates subject to the whims of the labor market (especially such a tight IT labor market with rising bill rates) exposes buyers to unforeseeable cost increases, but they may permit contingent workforce managers to accept above-market rates when facing pressure to fill a position quickly.

And finally, amongst buyers of IT staffing, 46% expect an increase in their organizations’ talent acquisition technology budget over the next 12 months, compared to 33% at industrial buyers. In addition, 39% of IT buyers expect a decrease in their talent acquisition technology budget (thus a net increase of 7%).

To keep up to date on IT staffing trends, participate in our May Pulse opening up in the second week of the month. Visit our surveys page for more info.