IT contracts pool shrank 12.4% after Brexit vote

The pool of new opportunities for IT contractors narrowed in the year to July 2016 by a double-digit percentage, a staffing body says.

In fact, temporary IT contracts over the period reduced by 12.4%, partly due to “heightened levels of uncertainty over the long term implications” of the UK's Brexit decision, found APSCo.

The impact that June's vote to leave the European Union might have on IT investment also helped bring about the IT contracts decline, APSCo’s CEO Ann Swain told ContractorUK.

But placements of contractors by APSCo’s 230-plus IT recruiters are down by only 1% year-on-year because, Ms Swain says, “a number of key specialisms continue to perform well.”

Cyber Security is a case in point. Demand for specialists in the field leapt by almost 70% between 2012 and 2015 – 40% higher than the overall growth rate in demand for the average IT professional.

APSCo said: “It’s somewhat unsurprising that as business leaders develop an increased awareness of the risks of cyber-crime, that demand for professionals with experience in the sector continues to rise, even against a backdrop of uncertainty.”

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