55% CIOs to increase staff across IT digitization functions in 2021: Gartner

About 55% CIOs plan to increase total number of full-time employees (FTEs) in information technology (IT) in 2021, with automation, cloud and analytics platforms, and support for remote work being focus areas, according to research and advisory firm Gartner. 

Data for the study was gathered from a survey conducted between November and December. The survey saw particpation of 184 CIOs across industries, functions and company sizes in North America, EMEA and APAC regions. 

The need to accelerate digital initiatives has become a key driving force behind increased adoption of cloud services. CIOs are more likely to increase staffing in emerging technologies to keep up with the changes at workplace.  

 “The critical role IT played across most firms’ response to the pandemic appears to have had a positive impact on IT staffing plans. The initial pessimism around the 2021 talent situation that many CIOs expressed mid-2020 has since dwindled,” Matthew Charlet, research vice president at Gartner in a statement, said. 

The firm had earlier noted that enterprises in India alone are projected to be increasing their investments in information security and risk management to $2.08 billion in 2021. 

Consequently, data centre network, systems administration and applications maintenance are the most likely areas to see staffing decreases due to the shift towards cloud services.