Astreya's staffing business hasn't been affected by this most recent round of bad economic news either. "Across the board, we haven't heard one client say, 'Because of this downgrade or because of the economy in the U.S. or Europe, we're going to slow things down,'" says Freeland. "We've been reassured by our clients that things are going to continue. They're still hiring and hiring faster across the board in different skillsets. That's as good a guarantee as we're going to get."

Even many IT professionals are optimistic about the job market. Forty-four percent of those polled by staffing firm Technisource during the second quarter reported feeling confident they could find a new job. Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of IT professionals aren't worried about getting laid off. In fact, IT professionals' confidence in their employers' futures climbed to its highest level--70 percentage points--since the fourth quarter of 2007.

CIOs are slightly more cautious about their hiring plans than the staffing executives. According to a survey of 1,054 IT decision-makers conducted between May 26 and June 3, 2011 on behalf of technology solutions provider CDW, only 19 percent of IT departments plan to hire in the next six months. The better news? Only seven percent anticipate staff cuts.

Staffing industry executives are bullish about IT hiring despite economic concerns because IT departments cut so deeply and delayed so many projects during the recession of 2008 and 2009. They can't afford to put any more projects on hold, they say.