The number of job opportunities in the IT industry hit a six-year
low last year, according to the latest figures from the Computer
Weekly/SSP survey.
Ross BentleyIn total, 99,054 IT vacancies were advertised on the pages of
the national and trade press compared with 171,152 during 1999 and
248,660 in 1998. However, the latest total is almost double that of
1991-1992.
Despite this drop in the overall number of vacancies, demand for
Internet-related skills still shows steady growth. They now occupy
the top two positions in the skills league table and for the first
time account for six of the top 20 skills.
Generic Internet skills top the table, and Java showed a 20%
growth in vacancies. Demand for Java skills is being driven by
software houses and the financial sector, while generic Internet
expertise is most often required in the media and retail
industries.
Other Internet-based skills to demonstrate a rise in demand are
HTML, TCP/IP, XML, and Wap.
Meanwhile, demand for Oracle has fallen by half and Windows NT
now only heads the table in the manufacturing and public sectors.
Advertised vacancies for legacy skills continue to nose-dive, with
only 185 Cobol jobs on offer during the last three months of
2000.
Carole Hepburn, director of permanent recruitment at agency
Computer People, said this year's wages were a sign of a steady
market compared with the short-term, high-level wages being offered
by dotcoms last year.
ross.bentley@rbi.co.uk