IT workers' pay rates 'unchanged'

Pay for most freelance IT workers held steady in the economically fragile third quarter of last year, as average hourly rates in September matched those paid in January.



Figures from the SkillsMarket/ATSCo, which are based on actual paid rates, show average contractor pay in the penultimate and first quarters of 2007 was £40 an hour.



Meanwhile pay for most IT employees also avoided the-then growing downturn: annual salaries during the third quarter were unchanged since June, when they were £35,000.



The SkillsMarket said closer inspection of its findings confirms that "not all IT staff have faired equally" as the credit crunch took hold.



While pay rates for IT contractors in the Engineering and Manufacturing industries leapt, they fell for contractors working in more general technical roles in the IT sector, the SkillsMarket said.



On a regional basis, the firm recorded median IT pay for contractors to have risen in the East Midlands, in contrast to the West Midlands and East of England, where it fell.



Third-quarter market findings from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation are more upbeat: it says the average advertised rate for IT contractors leapt seven per cent year-on-year to £67,100.



The group's research coincides with market analysis from ATSCo, which said 2007 concluded "the same way it started" with "strong demand" for both permanent and contract IT staff.



But member agencies of the REC found end-of-year demand for full-time IT staff actually fell two per cent and four per cent for contractors, when compared to the previous quarter.



In terms of in-demand skills, however, there appears to be a consensus: a growing number of clients want contractors with C#, while the REC also said the number of adverts for Dbase contractors has risen significantly.



Contractors specialising in UNIX, Java and Oracle should have seen their pay rise from 2006, as should contractors who work as analyst programmers or trainers, the SkillsMarket said



In contrast, lower pay rates were likeliest among IT staff working with Lotus Notes or C, together with those trained as programme managers, tech support and Web development.



For the future, the firm's survey partner ATSCo reflected: "Our members predict…those [contractors] possessing niche skills [are] more likely to see a rise in pay rates" in 2008.



More cautiously, the joint pollsters said that "neither permanent IT staff nor IT contractors reported a rise in earnings during the third quarter" last year.



Their database shows annual salaries and hourly rates have now remained largely unchanged for three consecutive quarters for IT employees and contractors respectively.



Both of the firms, joined by the confederation, noted a significant rise in the number of IT workers job-seeking in the third quarter, though this trend, in the long term, is downwards, the REC said.