Around one-third of organizations will spend more money on IT outsourcing over the next 18 months, while 48 percent plant to hire more contractors, according to IT staffing agency Bluewolf's recent report, entitled "2012-2013 State of IT Outsourcing." The reasons for the upshift: Companies are eager to dig into piping-hot technologies like cloud, big data, and mobile but can't find sufficiently skilled IT workers to fill related job openings. Couple that talent shortfall with the ever-present need for speed to market, and the need for outsourcing becomes a bit clearer, though perhaps still tough to stomach for unemployed or underemployed IT pros in the United States.

If there's any consolation, it may be that companies are no longer as gung-ho about enlisting offshore talent to fill their IT outsourcing needs, according to Bluewolf. This is because CIOs who were dazzled by the prospect of cheaply recruiting IT talent from China, India, and Eastern Europe have seen "mixed results," according to Bluewolf, leading them to reevaluate which services and functions they ship overseas.

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