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| CURRENT SECTION :: Market Reports | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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Demand for IT contractors was at its strongest since August 1998 last month, according to REC's most recent Report on Jobs. IT contractors ranked fifth out of eight sectors, with 61 per cent demand in August. Last year, the sector ranked in last position at 40 per cent demand. Average weekly billings received by recruitment agencies from the employment of general temporary and contract workers increased for the third successive month. Moreover, with the seasonally adjusted index rising to 55.7, from 51.7 in July, the rate of growth of billings was the fastest since March 2001. Agencies reported that a rising number of clients had secured enough new business to warrant hired help. Employment agencies’ margins on temporary and contract staff usage continued to deteriorate in August, as strong competition enabled clients to negotiate more attractive rates. Nevertheless, the rate of decline of margins eased sharply to the least severe since July 2002. The rates of growth of demand for permanent and temporary staff both accelerated sharply in August, to the fastest since February 2001 and July 2002 respectively. The availability of staff to fill temporary and contract vacancies improved for the twenty-eighth successive month in August, REC members reported. Nevertheless, the rate of improvement eased for the second month running (following June’s nine-month high) to the slowest since January. Agencies generally reported that the improvement in staff availability was less acute as a result of the recent strengthening of demand for temporary staff. Average hourly rates of pay for temporary and contract staff increased for the third month in a row in August. Indeed, having increased only marginally in both June and July, the rate of increase picked up slightly to the fastest since February. Agencies reported that strong demand for temporary staff placed upwards pressure on pay rates during August, although the rate of increase was tempered by a further solid improvement in staff availability. Sudip Nandy, vice president in Europe for Wipro Technologies, said: "There certainly seems to be more traction in the IT services marketplace, not only in the UK but globally and this is resulting in the need for a lot more people. In particular, Wipro are recruiting up to 80% more local people, of which 20% are on fixed term contracts. The market is certainly beginning to stabilise, resulting in more Demand for IT services and skilled people. We are seeing an increase in recruitments generally, both permanent and contractors, to improve our local presence, and for client interactions and project management. Therefore IT contractors are currently playing a significant role in localisation and I see this growth continuing over the next few years." Gareth Osborne, Managing Director at REC, said: "The pick up in the labour market seen in the last couple of months seems to be strengthening, which is good news for workers, business and the economy. "Particularly important is the strengthening of the private sector, given much of the demand in the last year has been from the public sector which threatened to imbalance the job market." Meanwhile for permanent staff in IT/Computing and Accounting/Financial staff both rose markedly in August, and at the fastest rates since May 2002. Demand for IT permanent workers ranked third out of eight sectors at 55.8 per cent, last year it was in last place at 37.4 per cent demand. Key permanent staff skills reported in short supply in the IT/Computing sector were programmers. iProfilestats revealed the most common roles held by UK IT professionals were Analyst Programmers, Project Managers, Business Analysts and Web Developers. The more common roles did not, however, necessarily attract the highest remuneration. This privilege instead being reserved for contractors working as Programme Managers (who reported earning a median of £72 per hour) and permanent staff employed as IT Directors (typically taking home a salary of around £68,000 per year), it said. IT professionals working in the Finance sector also came out as the highest earners with median hourly contract rates of £43 and permanent annual salaries of £35,000. Jobstats says the average rates for IT contractors are £19 per hour and £36,600 per annum for permanent IT workers. According to Jobstats the top three skills are: management, support and analysts. The top three IT contracting locations are: London, City and more broadly, England. The top three contracting agents are: Arc Recruitment, Jonathan Chadwick and Ks. While the top three agencies are: Lorien, Spring IT Personnel and MSB International Plc. Presswire It should be noted that information derived from Jobstats is based on contracts advertised on job boards. Such information is therefore best used as a good indicator only. Aug 25, 2003 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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