Tech Workers Were In A Great Mood About Jobs Last MonthTech Workers Were In A Great Mood About Jobs Last Month

Job optimism among tech professionals soared in April as expectations about hiring rose and worries about layoffs decreased, according to a new study by IT staffing and outsourcing firm Hudson.

Compared with a base score of 100, IT and telecom professionals rated their job confidence at 122.6 in April, up 12.9 points since March, when confidence fell 2.6 points to 109.7.

The mood among tech pros was considerably better than it was for most other workers nationally, for which job confidence dipped 1.5 points to 107.5 in April. Hudson bases its job confidence index on a phone survey of 9,000 workers in several industries, including about 400 people in telecom and IT. Other sectors surveyed include accounting and financial services, health care, and manufacturing.

Tech workers' optimism in April was fueled by a 7-point increase to 38% of workers who expected their employers to hire in coming months. There also was a record low in the number of workers expecting layoffs -- only 13%, which was 4 points lower than in March.