The role of IT project managers is critical, as new technology adoption, regulatory compliance, outsourcing, and other factors make it vital that projects be properly planned and controlled.
Computer Economics says that too few organizations adequately staff the project manager function and, as a result, too many projects fall short of objectives, miss deadlines, or overrun budgets. In their report, IT Project Management Staffing Ratios (Reg. Req.), the research firm found that project managers as a percentage of the IT staff dropped slightly at the median from 4.8% in 2015 to 4.5% in 2016.
The Irvine, CA-based firm speculates that there are a variety of reasons for the recent decline in the percentage of project managers. They found that like other IT functions, the staffing ratio for project managers is in flux. The percentages of staff in certain other IT job categories are growing, with a higher percentage going to application development, business analytics, and security. This, by definition, pushes down the percentage in project management.
Other reasons Computer Economics cites include the improvement in project management tools, which might allow project managers to handle more projects. It also appears a small number of companies might be abandoning the dedicated role of project manager, combining it with the role of lead developer, for example. The study also blames the growing popularity of agile development, with its focus on, also may be contributing to the decline in project management as a discrete function. However, this decline has only been recent and may not yet reflect a trend. Tom Dunlap, research director for Computer Economics said,
Despite the slight drop in the percentage of PMs, I’d be surprised if that turned into a long-term trend. With the rapidly changing nature of technology in the enterprise and the generally bad track record of IT departments getting projects in on time and on budget, I expect the percentage of PMs to go up.
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Compare this data to that PMI reported in their Project Management Job Growth and Talent Gap 2017–2027 (PDF) report where they are making the case for a growing job market for PMs. The report claims that through 2027, the global project management-oriented labor force in seven project-oriented sectors is expected to grow by 33 percent, or nearly 22 million new jobs.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.