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The IT contracts market slipped into recession in the third quarter of this year, following the overall trend of IT jobs growth contracting for two successive quarters. Demand for each freelance IT job, particularly developers, fell for the sixth month in a row, at a faster and steeper rate than recession in the permanent IT jobs market. The findings, from CWJobs, are the first evidence that the whole IT jobs market has entered recession and that clients ensure temporary staff are the first workers to feel its effects. Richard Nott, its director, said ‘recession’ was applied in its strict sense to mean the negative growth in the number of IT job adverts continued for two quarters back-to-back. This fall was sharpest for IT contractors, whose job offers fell 13% on the second quarter and 25% on a year ago, against a fall of 9% and 7% respectively for full-timers. Asked how both types of IT staff are faring against recession, Matt Smith, director of UK regions at Harvey Nash, said “contractors are getting hit slightly harder.” “We have seen pay ultimatums, spread beyond financial services across a range of sectors,” he said yesterday, echoing whispers that daily rates at one non-financer are down 25%. “At the moment, we’re are at a stage where contractors are certainly not as confident as they were this time last year, when they expected to go from one role straight into another. “As a result, contractors are being more pragmatic when their clients are telling them to cut their daily fees mid-contract, upon renewal or effectively be gone.” But the survey found contractor pay rates are up by an average of 1% on last year, compared with a drop in salaries of 0.7%, the first since the survey was launched 20 years ago. Carried out by SSL, the quarterly survey on 55 IT roles says full-time IT directors and system analyst defied the downward pay pressures, unlike contract developers and programmers. Contractors appear mindful that, as scrutiny on staff pay and resources intensifies, some mid-to-senior permanent IT roles might be more appealing, overall, than they were three months ago. “Because of the uncertainty in the market, contractors willing to work contract or permanent are opting for the safer, [full-time] option,” said Smith. “Organisations know that they can fill their jobs permanently, so if they need a certain role they are advertising for it permanently and that is…reinforcing that the contract market is being squeezed.” Causing some of these pondering contractors to think twice, however, is the public sector, which increased its advertising for freelance IT workers by 25%, the quarterly survey shows. “The permanent and contractor jobs markets have slowed down – but we're still seeing a high level of project based work coming through, particularly from the public sector. “Consultants in our IT market who have taken the time to market themselves independently are still picking up new contracts”, reflected Gill Hunt of Skillfair, an IT consultant supplier. Taken with the findings, her comments indicate contractors may find the stability they increasingly want from government, as it looks to ride out much of the uncertainty with temporary hires. Financial services, in contrast, cut adverts for IT contractors by 41%, much more than any other surveyed sector, firming up initial evidence that financers effectively halved their contractor headcountnt. Manufacturing, the survey said, posted an 11% rise in IT jobs ads, implying cutbacks remain incoming, whereas electronics and, sources say, services, facilities and IT companies are already suffering. Flexible, mobile and independent consultants were last night pitched as the best placed IT staff to avoid their assignments getting shelved due to sector-specific or macro financial pressures. “[Though] the sources and locations of work may need some flexibility” on the part of non-permanent IT experts, if they want to stay in work, Ms Hunt explained. “One of our members has struck a strong seam of work in the Middle East and another based in Newcastle has projects for public sector organisations in London. “I guess the old adage still holds; if you're willing to travel and put the effort into marketing yourself then the work will come - but your work-life balance may have to suffer for a while.” Nov 19, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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