2004 Staffing Plans

Additionally, more than half of the VAR500 solution providers (55 percent) plan on hiring more people in the fourth quarter of this year, while only 2 percent of VAR500 solution providers foresee the need to reduce their workforce by the end of the year. This is a much more optimistic forecast than the 12 percent that had anticipated a decrease in workforce, earlier this year. Encouraging, more than one in three solution providers expect to hire additional staff in 2004, according to our State of the Market research.

"We are essentially a start-up firm, and with our expected growth, we expect to hire about five people next year, says Jim Brown, president of E-Shingle, a small Web-site development firm based in Rochester, Mich. "With changes in the tax code, relatively low interest rates and an economy on the rise, businesses are ready to grow and tackle needs ignored during the last two years."

Part 3: Influencing Products And Services In 2004