Study Shows 95% of IT Pros Happy With Their JobsStudy Shows 95% of IT Pros Happy With Their Jobs

IT professionals are overwhelmingly happy with their jobs, according to a new study.

A full 95% of the more than 1,000 people surveyed reported they were somewhat or very satisfied in their current jobs, according to Dice Inc., an online recruiting service for IT professionals. And 93% said they plan on staying in the tech field for at least the next six months.

IT workers also seem to like their jobs enough to recommend technology as a career to others. According to Dice, 83% said they were likely to recommend high tech as a career field. In comparison, 63% of health-care workers would recommend their own field, and 47% in financial services would do so.

Still, outside of the tech field, the image of the industry isn't so rosy. Dice reports that 62% of adults who don't work in high tech would recommend a career in IT. Some 66% would recommend health care, and only 43% would recommend financial services.

The reasons why IT professionals are satisfied with their jobs are changing.

The Dice survey reports that a declining number of tech workers said they're happy with their jobs because of opportunities for advancement, with the number dropping from 21% this past February to 12% in October, when the study was conducted. The number of workers citing good pay also is on the decline, falling from 34% in the previous study to 28% in this one.

The report also shows that more people outside of the profession are worried about their jobs being offshored to a foreign country than those who work in IT.

About 37% of tech professionals cited being concerned about losing their jobs to offshoring, while 43% of non-tech professionals reported being very or somewhat concerned about their jobs being shipped to another country.

"Customers often ask us what they can do to foster loyalty and reduce turnover among their technology teams," said Scot Melland, CEO and president of Dice, in a written statement. "Employer-sponsored training and professional development programs are excellent ways to build the overall technical capability of an organization while addressing a key career issue among tech professionals. If the team members are able to stay current and grow within an organization, they have less reason to look elsewhere. You rarely find such an ideal win-win situation."

Actually, training and staying up-to-date with their skills is a big concern for IT workers.

According to Dice, the survey found that 82% of tech professionals cite the ability to keep their skills current as a strong area of concern. When asked to assess their employers' encouragement and support of skills development, one-third rated it as fair or poor. Only 26% said their employers are excellent when it comes to supporting their continued training, with 40% giving a good rating.

When employers do support their IT workers' skills development, 37% provide in-house training, 32% offer tuition reimbursement for college courses, and 28% offer reimbursement for professional courses. Want some time off from work to attend these classes? That's going to be a little hard to come by. Dice reports that only 26% of employers offer such time off.

A pat on the back may be what most get for their efforts. Around 18% of companies offer monetary rewards or promotions to employees who obtain new skills or update existing ones, Dice reports.