According to Gartner projections published Thursday, global IT spending will reach $4.6 trillion, growing 5.5% in 2023. The projection marks an increase from the firm’s January forecast, which said global IT spending would only grow 2.4% this year.
According to John-David Lovelock, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, the shift in the growth rate is mainly attributed to currency fluctuations, as a weaker U.S. dollar begins to blow tailwinds in IT spending trends.
IDC, however, adjusted it’s worldwide IT spending forecast down Wednesday, projecting the spend at a more conservative $3.25 trillion in constant currency and a growth rate of 4.4% in 2023. The firm said tech investments reflect the impact of a weakening economy.
This is from CIO Dive.
ADP, meanwhile, says that the private sector added 145,000 jobs last month, with the smallest firms (those with fewer than 50 employees) accounting for the bulk of hiring.
The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey dives into the guts of what’s happening among businesses and their workers. For February, There are signs the labor market is finally cooling, alongside evidence that conditions remain as tight — perhaps even overheated — as ever.
The number of job openings employers reported dropped by 632,000 in February, reaching the lowest since May 2021. That’s consistent with a story in which employers react to a slowing economy by pulling back on hiring. The same report showed that hiring remained steady, and the number of people laid off or discharged from their jobs fell. Meanwhile, voluntary quits rose.
Why do we care?
Listener Jon tweeted that my comment this week of “We’ve been near a recession for ages, that never seems to come” summed it all up, and I appreciate the feedback. If it’s not a recession, then what is it?
Customer side, hiring is slowing, yet there aren’t enough people.. and per that ADP data, those SMBs are not behaving like the big companies that get the headlines. That’s good news… and links to continued growth in IT spending. You can pick IDC’s 5.5% or Gartner’s 4.5%, or split the difference and say 5%. Five percent growth is good, but not gangbusters.
So the conditions are good but could be better. Grey skies and no rain, so it keeps threatening.. but it isn’t raining.