Dive Brief:

• Almost half of IT pros say they plan to begin searching for or accept a new job in 2017, according to a new Spiceworks survey of nearly 500 IT pros in North America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa from a variety of sectors.

• Of the IT pros that indicate they will seek a new position next year, 69% say their motivation is to advance their IT skills.

• Cybersecurity is the number one type of skill IT pros want to improve, with 95% of them saying those skills will be necessary for success next year.

Dive Insight:

While salary is important, with 64% of IT workers indicating they are looking for new positions to find higher salaries, the opportunity to learn new skills is clearly even more important.

Companies that offer continuous training, especially around cybersecurity, may find it easier to retain highly sought-after IT employees next year. In addition to cybersecurity, respondents also indicated they want to learn computer networking (95%), virtualization (92%), and cloud architecture skills (72%).

Other prominent reasons IT pros plan to switch jobs in 2017 include to work for a company that makes IT more of a priority (40%), because they’re burnt out at their current job (40%), and to find a job with better work-life balance (38%), according to Spiceworks.