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The latest findings from the iProfile Skills Survey (Quarter 4 2003), produced by iProfileStats and commisioned by ATSCo, reveals that IT contract rates have finally seen an increase of 3.3% since six months ago. This followed a rise in permanent salaries that occurred during the previous six months. From a baseline figure of 100 (Q2.2002) permanent rates initially fell by 3% but recovered dramatically during the middle of last year to show a net increase one year on of 6%. In contrast, contract rates fell more dramatically, reading a 10% decline by the middle of 2003. They have, however, finally begun to recover, reading a 3% increase since Q2 2003. Daniel Elkins, CEO of iProfileStats (a division of TheSkillsMarket), commented: “This is good news for the market, as it finally proves that things really are on the up. iProfile Compatible agencies have, in general, been telling us that they are getting busier as demand for IT staff is now on the increase. As expected, IT professionals in permanent roles were the first to see an improvement in pay rates in the middle of 2003. Contract rates, however, continued to fall throughout all of 2003 and it is only now that we are starting to see an improvement.” The overall median salary of an IT professional in a permanent role is now £34,000 per annum and for an IT contractor it is £37 per hour. When asked about market conditions over the last quarter IT with recruitment companies provided these reports: “We've experienced a slow increase in demand for contract staff over the last year, with it specifically speeding up over the last quarter. Quality candidates are now starting to receive multiple offers, which is something we haven’t seen for quite some time. Clients who had put major pressure on pay rates over the last few years are now finding it increasingly harder to source candidates at those rates, and as a result we expect there to be an upward trend over 2004 as demand increases. We are finding that SAP skills are in demand across Europe as companies seek to re-engineer their businesses to maintain lower cost-bases. However, due to the excess in supply, clients are holding out for very specific experience in the relevant modules and industries. We have also seen an increase in demand for Project Managers, particularly in the Public Sector. This is particularly encouraging as it indicates major projects may be starting once again. Whilst everyone is wary of declaring that the bad times are over, we definitely expect the market to stabilise in 2004, with contract rates slowly rising. We are hopeful that the positive trends so far will continue, particularly in areas such as the Public Sector and Telecommunications.” – Gavin Davis, Operations and Marketing Manager at Glotel. “Market has been tough but there has definitely been an increase in demand over the last few months for both contract and permanent staff. The permanent market is tailing off for the festive period but contract continues to be busy. The Government sector is still strong with a 12% increase in demand within the last quarter. We have also seen downward pressure on profit margins and the consolidation/reduction of suppliers on large PSL's. Skills and roles on the increase, particularly in the Public Sector, include Project Management and Project Support, Service Delivery and Contract Delivery Managers. There is a demand from Public Sector and 3rd party outsource companies for development and analysis skills. Other skills that are popular include Oracle and Java. Although there is a general increase in demand, there is still a lot of slack to absorb in the market and rates and salaries are staying stable. Other roles in demand include IT Helpdesk (UK and Multi-lingual), Project Managers, Analysts, .NET developers, Testers, Oracle Developers Prospects for 2004 - cautious optimism that the impetus built in Q403 will carry through into 2004. Whilst pay rates have been flat this year, we expect to see some upward pressure in Q204 as the well of available resource starts to run dry. Having said that, we do have concerns over the trend towards off-shore outsourcing by some of the large corporates which may dampen a full recovery in the IT marketplace.”- Kevin Riley, Operations Director at Parity Source: The Skills Market Jan 28, 2004 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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