Firms eye contractors to plug mid-tier IT staff gap

A steep decline in the number of applications for mid-level permanent roles in IT departments appears to be a shoo-in for suitably skilled freelance technologists in between contracts. 

Sharing fresh figures from its database, IT recruitment firm IntaPeople said that mid-tier IT job applications between July and September were down 22% on the same period last year.

That’s despite the work being clearly available. In fact, the total number of full-time IT roles on offer through the firm actually increased, yet the pool of candidates chasing them narrowed, from 2,874 (in Q3 2010) to 2,511 (in Q3 2011).

“We are already hearing about certain projects being put on hold because firms can’t find the individuals they require,” Stephen Riley, a director at IntaPeople reflected this week.

“We might have a lot of talent at the very top, but mid-level workers are generally the ones responsible for turning strategy into action.”

The recruiter says it wants the government to ensure IT careers are brought to the attention of youngsters earlier on in their schooling, as the dearth of new talent is “growing [the] void of productive middle-tier” techies.

Though just as school or university-leavers could help – eventually, given that the affected roles are mid-tier not junior, Mr Riley said the gap is more immediately ripe for freelance IT consultants.

“Contract workers are often available at short notice and get settled into work very quickly, which makes them very attractive to businesses needing to push through urgent projects,” he told CUK.

“We are seeing an increasing number of businesses turn to contract workers because applications for permanent positions have been low in volume or of poor quality. This is especially the case for companies based outside of the main cities.”

Riley said the shortfall in full-time applications was particularly visible for C# and Business Analyst roles, but is most marked for Java - now the agency’s hottest IT skill on a permanent basis, which is consistently sought-after on a contract basis.