The one Project Manager type that has been impacted the most by the economy is Network Technical Services. That is the area where many enterprises (Mid-sized Enterprises in particular) have made cuts. 

Currently the Mid-Atlantic market is toughest place to find a job.

Janco Associates is just completing its 2009 Mid Year Salary Survey and found that the median salaries paid to IT Executives in large enterprises (over 500 million in sales or with more than 100 IT professionals) has fallen in the last 18 months.

The CEO of Janco, Victor Janulaitis said, "Over the last six quarters there has been a noticeable reduction in costs associated with senior level IT professionals in large enterprise.  In New York alone there are over 200 IT executives  that had earned well into the six figures that are now looking for work."

The 2009 Mid Year IT Salary Survey will be released at the end of June and more information can be gotten at Janco's websites.

CIO's need to adjust staffing requirements to address the needs of 2010 versus 1990.  Application achitecture has and is continuing to change.

1990 Applications	2010 Applications
Mainframe - Host Based	Web - Server Based
Designed to last	Designed to change
Tightly integrated	Open Architecture, modular
Application silos	Enterprise Mirrors
Code-oriented	Process-oriented
Rigid sequential development - SDM	Interactive and iterative development - SOA
Cost-centered	Business-oriented
Homogeneous	Heterogeneous

Job content is changing as well as knowledge requirements.

What are the signs that the CIOs job is at risk. Unfortunately, many CIOs have a hard time recognizing their own shortcomings.   CIOs and IT managers should watch for these signs that could indicate that co-workers have a problem with them:

• Meetings happen without the CIO or IT manager being involved or informed.
• The CIOÂ’s or IT ManagerÂ’s feedback and input are not sought or are ignored.
• CIO or IT manager are not included in strategic planning.
• The IT department suffers from high turnover, and the CIO or IT manager have a particularly hard time keeping top-tier talent.
• People work around the CIO or IT manager.
• The business-side peers seek out others in IT to handle their problems, while IT staffers seek out other IT leaders or even go over your head.
• The CIO or IT manager don't hear bad news directly from those who should be delivering it. (It could indicate that they are not good at taking criticism or handling problems.)

The Internet and IT Job Description HandiGuide is a tool that every CIO and IT manager should have at their disposal.  It defines some simple things that you can do to avoid employment-based lawsuits:

• Know the laws that apply – EEOC and OSHA
• Create an employee handbook and follow it for everyone
• Minimize the use of employee contracts
• Retain copies of your offer letter
• Document all employment-based conversations
• Do not assume that "transferring" an employee will solve a problem
• Hire well and do detail vetting and reference checking
• Be proactive any all personnel issues