The other big dislikes are more revealing and timely: Respondents are stressed out about the state of the industry and worried about advancement opportunities.
Michael Northup, the lone IT staffer at Burton Saw & Supply Co. in Eugene, Ore., has a dark view of the future. He's not worried about himself. He's 58 and says he's pushing the end of his career. "If I were younger, I'd be looking for a different business," he says. "Between outsourcing and other trends, especially in small operations like mine, the IS guys will be just a grade above janitor. It'll be a maintenance kind of job."
IT workers are stretched thin, but don't expect much change anytime soon. Some 58 percent of respondents said IT headcount in their organizations will remain at current levels this year. About 20 percent expect an increase, and a roughly equal number expect a decrease.
All this means IT shops will continue treading water. "I think we're at a stable but critical level" of staffing, says Hoogendyk of UMass. "Stable in the sense that we can maintain what we're doing. Critical in the sense that we couldn't take another loss without loss of capability and services."
Because of stagnant budgets, training ranks low on the IT priority list, with only 20 percent of respondents listing it as one of their top three concerns this year. Those interviewed say that training is often the first line item to go when business slows down and the last to come back when business picks up.
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