Job Cuts or Hires -- What's Your IT Department's 2012 Workforce Outlook?

A recent survey of CIOs indicates that IT hiring across the U.S. will generally increase in 2012. But after a year of hardships, I question whether bank IT departments will be among those hiring.

The recently released Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report reveals that IT departments across the U.S. will see a net 10-percent increase in hiring activity during the first quarter of 2012.

Robert Half cannot identify how many of the 1,400 CIOs surveyed for the report are from financial institutions. However, considering the job and cost-cutting announcements, negative attention due to movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Bank Transfer Day, increasing regulatory pressure, and general hardship seen by the financial services industry over the past year, I can't help but wonder how the survey numbers measure up to what bank IT departments are actually doing.

So, I'm asking you: Will the size of your bank's IT department be increasing, decreasing or staying the same in the first quarter 2012? Either comment on this article or e-mail me at [email protected] to let me know.