Highest IT contractor index score since EU vote

A national index measuring demand for IT contractors shows its highest numerical reading since the UK’s Brexit decision.

In fact, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation scores IT contractor demand at 55.6, compared with 53.4 in August, 53.7 in July and 52.8 in the referendum month of June.

The September index score is even higher than in the months immediately before the UK went to the polls, such as May (55.0) and April (52.9), shows the REC Report on Jobs series.

It represents “further evidence that UK employers have shrugged off the initial shock of the referendum result,” says REC’s director of policy Tom Hadley.

He was referring to the initial evidence emerging in August, when hirers across all sectors -- including IT -- were spotted reverting to “pre-referendum patterns” for their recruitment.

However, “there remains a degree of caution in London, where permanent hiring has been on pause for the last five months,” Hadley said.

“This is likely to be because of uncertainty around the longer-term impact of the referendum result within the financial sector in particular.”

A second pause has hit hirers seeking gaming or digital skills, as the latter was scarce in September on a contract basis, and the former was scarce on both a full-time and contract basis.

There is also a shortage of IT contractors for development work, found REC member agents, who with full-time roles struggled to find enough applicants for Java and SQL positions.

Profile picture for user Simon Moore

Written by Simon Moore

Simon Moore is one of the UK’s most consistently published freelance journalists on freelancing, self-employment and contractor issues, such as IR35, the Loan Charge and late payment. Trained in News & Features writing by NCTJ-approved journalism tutors, Simon worked in the newsrooms of local, consumer and national press titles, before setting up his own editorial services company, Moore News Ltd.
Printer Friendly, PDF & Email

Stay Updated with ContractorUK

Weekly contracting news, IR35 updates and expert insights. No spam—unsubscribe anytime.

Join 50,000+ contractors who read our updates.