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| CURRENT SECTION :: Market Reports | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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Britain’s leading quarterly review into e-skills and recruitment trends reveals marked success for the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Sales and private sector investment in IT have increased since the final quarter of 2003 as 61 per cent of ICT firms polled posted ongoing growth from the year before. The survey falls short of delivering a perfect business picture for the industry as widening concerns highlight 75 per cent of firms suffered last year because of a lack of expertise and available skills. This supported responses and ratings from small ICT firms with a low proportion of companies planning staff growth or business expansion because of the shortfall in technical know-how. Only 25 per cent of firms declared they were looking to recruit contractors and permies with the intention to develop their enterprise- while just 15 per cent of firms forecast growth for ICT managers and professionals. The industry bulletin pioneered research from the National Employer Skills Survey (NESS), the government’s Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Learning Skills Council. With a readership of over 4,000 IT professionals the review surveys 72,000 companies across England and checks market trends in skills and recruitment from the last quarter of 2003 to the present in 2004. Overall, the technological sector appeared as notably improved with unemployment rates dropping below the national average for the first time in a year. Higher rates of press and online advertising for contract and permanent positions in ICT was up 4 per cent and is believed to have triggered a competitive demand for contractors from clients and recruitment agencies alike. An inclusion of the REC report on Jobs – covered here by Contractor UK - pointed to strong demand for IT contractors and permies, despite the promising outlook for full-timers given the sharp rates of client demand for hi-tech skills. Of 150 technical IT skills tested, the report rated 99 of them as ‘on the up’ for the employment outlook of ICT, for the rest of the year. Over three quarters of firms said they had been negatively affected by skill gaps while a further 15 per cent of ICT employers complained of poorly trained staff not capable enough in their existing roles. Lucy George, of Parity Group, an international IT specialist, operating 20 per cent of all government ‘bodyshop’ IT contracts, recently told Contractor UK: “Hot skills to be snapped up include, dot. net, CRM; Oracle, Project Management, Business Analysis, Technical Architects, Testers, and Weblogic.” She added: “For a consultancy assignment, a client wants to see exactly how the skills and experience of the candidate matches his specific requirement. The CV has multiple functions and it is difficult to get right. It has to include enough ‘buzz words’ to be selected by the Agency computerised search engine. If it fails to do so, then the consultant will not hear about the opportunity unless he or she spots it on web advertising.” May 13, 2004 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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