1,200 IT Jobs Lost in March

The demand for long-term IT professionals remains stagnant, according to Janco’s latest findings. Janco reports that 1,200 IT jobs in a variety of industries were lost in March. And, while short-term hiring for IT staff and consultants is up, long-term job prospects may not pick up until early 2013.

Finance and insurance IT job loss in March was very low, but the industry experienced a loss of 13,400 jobs in every area. “Insurers on the West Coast are keeping headcounts low, and many are preparing a set of layoffs in the next month,” Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis told Insurance Networking News. “The IT job markets in Chicago and Boston are doing reasonably well and Dallas is picking up, but overall it’s not where it used to be four years ago.”

Economic recovery in the United States is not strong enough to drive companies to increase IT headcounts, according to Janco. Its analysis points to ways insurers are counteracting employment costs. In an effort to minimize capital expenditures and improve ROI, insurers are jumping on the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend, allowing employees to use their own personal devices on the job. “Insurers don’t have to spend money on a laptop if employees are using their own devices,” says Janulaitis. “It’s helping companies cope with the economy."