The latest edition of the CDW IT monitor, a monthly report on IT spending trends and confidence, finds organizations are pulling together capital investment plans - but not anticipating hiring to go along with them.
"The confidence we began to see emerging in April with decreases in planned job cuts has now evolved into planned capital investments in IT infrastructure to increase efficiency and productivity," said Mark Gambill, the company's executive responsible for market insights. "Hardware refresh cycles have been pushed to limits we've rarely seen, and anticipated investment in this area is encouraging as companies prepare for a larger economic recovery. The down side is that the percentage of organizations planning investments in IT staffing has held steady and in some cases has declined."
While more than two thirds of the 1,043 IT buyers surveyed plan to make hardware purchases in the next six months, 80 percent have no plans to add additional staff. There's one glimmer of hope: Twelve percent will hire more workers in the next six months. But couple that with the 8 percent who may cut staff, and you're left with a net 4 percent gain. Not great.
If you want the details, download the facts and figures here and the full press release here.
-- Don Willmott