At long last, consumers are demonstrating confidence in the economy by spending more money. Last month, retailers responded by hiring 57,100 new employees. Not all of those people are sales clerks. The business needs tech professionals, too. Brick-and-mortar firms are still searching for a variety of IT experts to help them meet a long list of objectives. A report by Gartner and Retail Info Systems News says that for the first time in three years, retailers are investing in IT for innovation and growth. For starters, retailers want to attract customers through social media, break down internal silos to create a uniform experience for both online and store shoppers, and protect sensitive data from hackers. They also want to boost operating margins by using technology to create efficiencies. In addition to engineers, companies are advertising for Web developers, e-commerce specialists and managers, project managers, business and data analysts and application developers. Who’s hiring? Why not start with April’s top revenue gainers in the brick-and-mortar category. That includes apparel and general merchandise firms like the Limited, Zumiez, Target, Costco and Macy’s. Also on the list: luxury retailers Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus. Source: Retail Info Systems