"Several years ago companies cut back pretty far, particularly in infrastructure and technology development," said Tom Silver, senior vice president of North America for Dice Holdings, who spoke about results from Dice.com's recent . "They're in a little bit of a state of catch-up ... in terms of their infrastructure and therefore the people they need in order to replace aging hardware and software and deal with security challenges."

To fill their ranks, 65 percent of the survey's 900 respondents, including hiring managers and recruiters, said they plan on hiring more tech workers in the second half of the year compared to the first six months.

This demand for IT staff means that employers are encountering a competitive marketplace for talent and explains why tech's unemployment rate is half of the national unemployment rate despite the still-improving economy, Silver said.

"The unemployment tech rate ... tends to be half the national average," he said. "So tech unemployment is around 4 percent versus the overall average, which is around 9 percent. So if one is a tech worker, while the market overall is not great, it continues to gradually improve for people with tech skills."