Dive Brief:
- Interview requests for technical contract work has tripled since 2015, according to a Hired report based on more than 175,000 interviews and job offers. Engineering, mobile and full stack engineers are the most sought-after contractors with high-paying hourly rates.
- Contract workers make an average of $71 per hour. In the Bay Area, contractors make about $105 per hour to accommodate the cost of living, followed by Seattle with about $97 per hour.
- Flexibility in scheduling, vacation and project workloads are attracting more people to contract work than traditional office work. Most 1099 contractors work an average of 22 hours a week by choice, but contractors working 40 hours a week make about $147,689 — approximately $25,000 more than a fulltime W-2 employee.
Dive Insight:
Computer science degrees rank among the highest paying fields of study, with an average salary of $92,300, and the field is expected to expand by 11% by 2024. While the need for a skilled IT workforce is growing, CIOs are faced with hiring setbacks.
About 40% of CIOs say the demand for high salaries is a main barrier to hiring the talent they need. A quarter of CIOs said not being considered the "employer of choice" is also a setback. Competitive salaries, followed by flexible schedules, are the top priorities for IT professionals looking for work.
More companies are forced to adapt to the needs of the IT workforce to meet the growing demands of digital migration and cybersecurity. Currently, 60% of IT professionals claim their security teams are either understaffed or lack the proper skill set. There are an estimated 400,000 daily malware threats, but only 11% of IT workers say their company can detect an intrusion.
Modernization and innovative IT strategy halts when talent is not in place. Companies lacking workers with cloud-based skillsets face losing upwards of $258 million a year. Companies outsourcing workloads to contractors can attract more of the talent they need while also fulfilling the requirements of applicants.
