Posted by : bpburnwal on Feb 15, 2004 - 01:58 AM General

Demand for skilled IT contractors is rising amid muted signs of recovery in the sector, according to the latest review of the IT labour market by e-skills UK.
During the third quarter of 2003 there was a continued reduction in private sector IT spending, but the number of people employed by the sector rose by 27,000.

The e-skills Bulletin said that businesses remain bullish about employment and growth prospects, buoyed by stock market rises and analysts' predictions of two to five per cent growth in IT spending this year.

The Bulletin also reports that vacancies for contract IT staff increased by four per cent over the previous quarter and that contract rates grew by an average £3 an hour.

Terry Watts, chief operations officer for e-skills UK, predicted that this could also good news for the permanent job market. "Now that IT directors are looking for new staff, it could be that they're taking on contractors to fill in until they're able to recruit permanent staff," he said.

However, there are signs that certain IT skills are in short supply. A survey conducted by the Learning and Skills Council found that almost one in five UK IT vacancies has been hard to fill because of "a shortage of applicants with the required experience, qualifications or skills".

Skills highlighted by analyst Gartner as growing areas include broadband, wireless, Linux, content management, real-time analytics, data mining, security, middleware, certification, business intelligence and knowledge management.

Earlier this month Larry Hirst, general manager of IBM UK and Ireland, succeeded Gareth Cadwallader as the chairman of e-skills UK. He said: "I believe firmly in the need to improve skills in these sectors at every level for the benefit of the UK economy."