In a tech talent market that is already competitive, CIOs are now watching how inflation will affect employee hiring and retention, The Wall Street Journal reported July 21.
As the COVID-19 pandemic slows, tech innovations are occurring in tandem with the nation's economy bouncing back and consumer prices rising. Some CIOs are expecting wages of IT staff to rise with consumer prices.
Mani Sundaram, CIO of Akamai Technologies, said its budget may have to be readjusted to factor in the costs of hiring.
"People are being asked to spend more to maintain their standard of living," he said. The company is looking for talent to help boost cybersecurity and support its continuing cloud migration, among other key projects, Mr. Sundaram said.
Bhaskar Ramachandran, the CIO of PPG Industries, also said if salary demands rise, its IT budget will need to be readjusted.
"There are certain types of talent that [are] going to cost even more than others," he said. The current environment could lead to wage inflation and affect hiring, Mr. Ramachandran said.
John Bosco, CIO and senior vice president at New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, said wage inflation isn't affecting Northwell's hiring process. He told the Journal Northwell has vacant positions in cybersecurity, data analytics and IT, but declined to say how many openings.
Andrew Bartels, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, said CIOs can either slow down IT hiring to calibrate for new staff salaries, adjust the budget or request a higher IT budget to keep up with rising salaries.