A third of CIOs want to change jobs

More than a third of IT directors are looking to change their job within the next 12 months, according to an exclusive silicon.com survey.

The poll of 267 IT chiefs was conducted on board the Oriana cruise ship at the annual IT Directors' Forum event last month.

Although the majority (63.9 per cent) said they are happy in their current position, 36.1 per cent said they are either already looking for a new job or expect to change within the next 12 months.

The main reason for wanting to change job was "a new challenge", according to just over a fifth of the 70 IT directors who said why they were job hunting.

The desire to earn more money, surprisingly, came low down the list of factors - with just six per cent of IT chiefs saying they planned to jump ship to get a higher salary.

The other main reasons for switching jobs included career progression and perceived insecurity over the future of the company they are currently working for.

Hugo Smith, former IT director at Sporting Index, recently took a career break and advised others to do the same.

He told silicon.com: "If anybody ever has the chance to do it, it's the best thing to do. It revitalises you and gives you a better perspective on life. There's a big world out there."

Smith is currently looking at getting back onto the corporate treadmill but said he did not see many executive IT positions out in the jobs market, and he also claimed head-hunters and executive recruitment agencies need to get their act together.

He said: "Communication is so poor. It's always up to me to keep chasing them."