A survey released Wednesday by TEKsystems found that a majority of information technology leaders expect IT salaries to rise in 2011. Expected to see the greatest increases are project managers, security specialists, database administrators and enterprise architects.

The majority of survey respondents also expect project needs to increase during the first half of 2011. Left with a skills gap, most report they plan to train existing staff. Companies planning server virtualization and open source applications projects, though, said they are likely to use contingent staff; outsourcing is likely to be used for virtual desktop and business intelligence projects, according to the survey.

Permanent IT hiring expectations also remain healthy, indicating more firms are optimistic about the coming year. Canadian IT leaders are significantly more positive about their upcoming first-quarter needs than their peers in the United States.

TEKsystems' survey questioned more than 1,000 chief information officers and IT decision makers in the U.S. and Canada.