Market Watch Q3 2010

As we approach the end of 2010, the team at Meadows Consulting has been taking stock. In this article we review the latest employment trends in IT – and weigh them against overall recruitment patterns.

Market Outlook – IT Recruitment

According to CWJobs.co.uk IT recruitment has continued to rise during the third quarter of 2010 with 7.6% more jobs advertised in comparison with the second quarter.

This constitutes the fifth consecutive rise in IT recruitment figures and is in line with other economic indicators showing an improvement in the economy.

However, employers and jobseekers should note that the rate of increase has slowed since the second quarter, during which recruitment grew 8.1% against the previous quarter.

Furthermore, it is worth remembering that IT recruitment overall is still down 152% since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2009.

Detailed focus on demand for IT roles shows:

• ‘Software Developer’ still accounts for 39% of jobs advertised
• ‘Business analysis/design’ job advertising has increased by 9.6%
• Advertisements for ‘Management’ roles have gone up 8.7%
• The need for ‘Finance’ IT skills has increased by 7.5%
• Job prospects look relatively bright for virtually all job types such as support, administration & networking

In demand IT skills are as follows:

• SQL expertise is the most sought-after skill
• Demand for Microsoft skills C# &.Net has increased by 3.6% and 9.6% respectively for permanent staff, and by 14.5% and 10.6% for contract roles
• Linux skills are a big gain this quarter, with an 8.2% increase in demand
• Agile makes its first appearance in the skills demand table, whilst Scrum and Vmware remain just outside the top ten

When it comes to IT salaries:

• Average permanent salaries have increased by just 1.3% on last year
• Developers have seen rates of pay increase by 4.3% over the past year, project managers by 2.8%, development managers by 1.8% & network support engineers by 2.5%
• PC support salaries are down by 1.1%
• Contract rates have started to improve in the second and third quarters, with median rates up by 4.8% compared with twelve months ago

Interestingly, Jobserve reports that the three most popular searches on its site in the last quarter were:

• Developer
• Support
• Analyst

Market Outlook – General Recruitment

The Recruitment & Employment Federation (REC) JobsOutlook report indicates:

• Agency staffing is set to rise as employers look to fill short and long term positions with contract staff over permanent staff
• Only 12% of employers expect their permanent workforce to grow in the short term, increasing to 22% in the long term (both figures constitute at 2% drop on last month)
• In the public sector, 75% of employers expect the spending review to impact their business – this will be felt not only by the public sector but private sector organisations who supply services into the public sector
• A level of caution is natural, however, on the upside temporary assignments provide valuable experience and routes into employment for job seekers – especially public sector workers who want to move into the private sector

Furthermore, the Report on Jobs produced by REC and KPMG indicates:

• Average starting salaries and temporary/contract rates have both shown a slight increase in the last quarter, indicating that the job market is still growing
• Despite rises in the number of both permanent and contract vacancies, the rate of growth has fallen to a 14-month low
• The private sector is not creating enough new jobs to offset the downturn in public sector spending and, hence, recruitment

For copies of any of the reports mentioned here, please contact Trevor Meadows on 01647 221360 or e-mail trevor@meadowsconsulting.com.