Finding and hiring top technology talent is the biggest concern for 42% of managers, according to the Harris Allied 2014 Tech Hiring and Retention Survey conducted by Manhattan-based executive search firm Harris Allied. This is consistent with the findings of Harris Allied’s surveys conducted in 2013 and 2012, when 39% and 41.8% reported the same biggest concern respectively.

Retaining this talent was the second biggest worry among those surveyed, also consistent with the surveys of the prior two years: 23.6% in 2013 and 19.1% in 2012.

“The tech arena remains a pain point in many ways from a hiring and HR perspective, as the demand for top talent continues to grow,” said Kathy Harris, managing director of Harris Allied. “This presents exciting opportunities for technology pros that are in demand by companies of all sizes and in all industries. It’s a great time to be looking for a job in technology right now.”

In an effort to attract these top technology professionals, 36% of survey respondents said they offer excellent compensation and benefits packages as their most important recruiting tool. In addition, 14.5% of respondents also believe their company’s position within the industry and the ability for employees to work on incredible projects is a key recruiting tool. These findings are consistent with Harris Allied’s 2013 survey, which ranked excellent compensation and benefits packages and company position and exciting projects as their first and second most important recruiting tools.

Compensation was also ranked the most important retention tool in the 2014 survey, with 28% of respondents saying this was their most important strategy. Corporate culture and work/life balance for employees was ranked the second most important retention strategy at 24.8%. This was consistent with the 2013 survey in which 36.6% said compensation was their most important strategy to retain key technology employees, and 26% of those surveyed said corporate culture was the most important factor in employee retention.

In 2015, more companies plan to increase their use of technology consultants, with 34.7% indicating this. Another 29.5% said they would keep their consulting headcount at 2014 levels, and 15.5% said they plan to actually decrease the use of consultants next year.

The survey was conducted in November 2014 among 193 executives ranging from C-level to middle-management executives within the information technology sector. Survey participants ranged from large industry leaders to small start-up companies in the United States, India, Israel and Germany.