 |
|
| CURRENT SECTION :: Jobs | |
|
 |
Contractors feeling the bite of the credit crunch should seriously consider transferring their skills to emerging sectors, according to leading recruitment specialist ATA. It says the economic crisis may lead to highly skilled individuals, particularly in the manufacturing, auto and construction industries, being surplus to requirements. Meanwhile, the emerging renewable energy sector is enjoying dramatic growth and is searching for engineers to work in areas such as onshore and offshore wind, solar power, biomass, biofuel and ground source systems. "Renewable energy, in particular wind power, is a huge growth market," says Gary Hewett, managing director of ATA Energy. "Companies within the sector fully appreciate they need to tap into experience from other sectors and channel this resource into their business, in order to sustain growth," he adds. And there are other commercial possibilities contractors might wish to follow. Video chat services are expected to be the largest contributors to a mobile adult market worth $4.9 (USD) billion by 2013 according to a new report from Juniper Research. The report found that while such services were utilised by a comparatively small number of consumers, the high spend levels – in many markets averaging several hundred dollars per user per annum – are expected to push the value of the adult video chat market past the $1bn mark by 2011. In addition, mobile adult service revenues are proving relatively robust. According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, "We are seeing significantly higher spend per user on video chat and on some subscription-based services." The increasing use of mobile devices and extension of the enterprise information-perimeter means the security sector is unlikely to feel many affects of the downturn. For suitably qualified contractors information security could even offer the opportunity to climb the promotion ladder according to Gerry O'Neill senior contributor to the Infosecurity Adviser and Institute of Information Security Professionals (The IISP) CEO. "We are seeing a record number of vacancies in the IT security sector, most notably on the CISO - chief information security officer - side of things. We're therefore encouraging organisations to widen their search and consider employing from the wider pool of equally competent and available accredited security professionals with proven ability," he says. "There is an opportunity and companies should take advantage of the wealth of IT security talent currently available in the IT security managerial sector," he adds. In a downturn criminals will be seeking out fraud and espionage opportunities, sometimes with the help of disgruntled employees who are about to lose their jobs," warns O'Neill. "This is not the time to remove the staff who survey the security and governance landscape acting as an organisations key defence." But information security may still have its casualties. Yuval Ben Itzhak, CTO, web-security firm Finjan, told CUK yesterday he expected the building blocks" of security would remain strong. "Things like network security, authentication; these are typically very solid because you always need them. Projects that are more cross organisation or cross business unit, may have problems because people like to focus on their own business unit during a recession," he says. But the need for information security will not lessen during the recession, neither will the requirement to keep costs falling. "For instance, the virtual desktop will become a reality, not due to any major technological shift, but solely based on the power, cost and management savings it can deliver," says Nick Garlick, managing director, Nebulas Solutions Group. He admits 2009 will be tough but thinks it will offer numerous opportunities. "Historically, economic downturns have been a good time for enterprises to re-assess their IT infrastructure and adopt technologies that offer cost efficiencies. 2009 will be no different." So even a recession offers the chance to grow your career. Yet contractors must remain flexible and competitive. "The channel will see the sorting of the 'wheat from the chaff'," says Garlick. "Organisations that are competitive, innovative and go the extra mile for customers will grow and prosper." William Knight Previous Page
|
|
 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All content © Contractor UK Limited | [Archive] | [Register for News Letter] | [Privacy Statement] | [Terms of Use] | [Top of Page] |