Tech Pros Worried About Fuel Costs, Job Security

Tech pros are suffering from gas pains--rising fuel costs and interest rates got techies feeling less secure about their personal finances and jobs in April, according to a new report by professional staffing firm Hudson.

Job confidence among tech pros last month fell 5.1 points to 109.9, compared to a base score of 100. The drop in optimism among techies contradicted what workers in other industries were feeling last month--the overall Hudson composite job confidence index increased 1.5 points to 107.7 points. So while confidence among IT and telecom workers fell last month, as a group they were still more optimistic than workers across all sectors nationally.

Hudson conducts monthly phone surveys with about 9,000 workers in several sectors--including the health care, financial services and banking, and manufacturing industries--as well as with more than 400 IT and telecom pros.

In April, the number of tech workers expecting layoffs and who had concerns about job security increased 1% to 17% and 21%, respectively. Yet despite those worries, outlook about job hiring actually increased 2%, with 34% of tech workers expecting their employers to add staff in coming months.

IT workers were likely feeling more worried about their personal finances--including gas prices--than professionals in other sectors last month because many tech pros tend to have farther commutes than other workers in many communities, says Hudson VP Kevin Knaul. "Workers in the financial professions often work in downtown locations and take public transportation, rather than drive," he says. By contrast, many IT engagements require workers to commute by car to "the suburbs or the outskirts" of cities, he says.