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Experts are wrong to predict the downturn in the technology sector will be over by next year, according to almost half of IT workers looking for jobs. A significant 44 per cent of IT Job Board users said the sector would not come out of the red until 2011 - a year later than its leading analysts have forecast. Forrester has pencilled in 2010 for the IT sector’s recovery, so has Gartner, while TechMarketView has agreed, saying growth should return by next year’s second-half. Moving to explain the disparity, the job board said perhaps IT workers were “erring on the side of caution,” given 2009 has proved a “tough year” for much of the industry. In fact, more than 70 per cent of the respondents think the recession for IT is still not over, in spite of the board reporting a “dramatic increase” in the creation of new IT jobs. The average number of IT jobs on-site in September was 8,409, compared with 11,600 in October and 13,750 in November. This month, it surpassed 17,000. However job eliminations have also continued, as about a quarter of the IT workers surveyed said their roles had been made redundant, and at all levels in most cases. This indicates that the end of 2009 has seen a reduction to the size of the IT workforce as a whole, rather than a weeding out those at the top, or bottom, of the pay scale. Yet the pay of IT staff has continued to prove an easy source for cost savings: 40 per cent of techies reported a freeze on their wages, and 8 per cent said pay had been cut. The IT Job Board reflected: “As we approach the last month of the year, this is a common time to start re-evaluating your position, your pay and your career progression. “Many [IT professionals] decide to rethink their situation and start contemplating a new challenge for the New Year.” Part of that challenge will be for IT workers to ensure their CVs are ready to face the scrutiny of financial companies, which are due to boost the tech jobs market. “I believe that next year the finance sector will really pick up,” predicted the IT Job Board’s sales director Peter Healey. “Banking was the first to be hit during the recession, but it will also be the first to recover, and it will offer a lot of opportunity in terms of IT recruitment.” IT workers who want their services to be in demand for 2010 were advised to adopt skills in the web services arena, though not necessarily for the finance sector. “As we continue to get to grips with social and business networking, Web 2.0 skills will be critical, for example .Net and Java,” Healey said. Tech staff seemed to agree - one third of those surveyed selected .Net as one of the 'hottest' skills for 2010; 29% chose SAP and 26% voted for Java. In terms of outlook, the website said: “Many companies’ budgets are renewed in January and this coupled with positive forecasts for the economy in 2010, could mean the New Year jobs wave will counterbalance the number of applicants. “Fortunately, IT seems to be a thriving area that has not been as badly hit as some other industry sectors, so if you are considering a career move, there’s no time like the present.” Dec 21, 2009 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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