The number of IT job vacancies advertised in the UK
increased by 2.8% in the first quarter of 2003, marking the first
quarter-on-quarter increase since April 2001. However, industry
experts have urged caution and said it is too early to talk of a
recovery in the sector.
The latest Computer Weekly/ SSP Quarterly Survey of Appointments
Data and Trends found that the number of published vacancies on the
internet and in the press increased from 55,582 to 57,131 during
the past three months.
However, Philip Virgo, strategic advisor to the Institute for the
Management of Information Systems, said although the quarter's
growth rate was strong, it faltered slightly in March and warned
the quarterly rise could be "a dead cat's bounce". He said it will
not be clear until the next quarterly results are released whether
the March results were a blip or a sign of a faltering recruitment
market.
"It would be wrong to say we are seeing signs of recovery, although
it does look like the recruitment rate is not going down any more,"
said Virgo.
In 2002 the total number of UK IT jobs advertised in the press and
on the internet fell by 76% - the biggest drop ever reported in the
long-running survey.
Jon Butterfield, co-founder of IT recruitment firm Best
International, said the survey's findings are reflective of the
market but he believes the actual growth rate could be even higher,
at about 5%.
Butterfield said a lot of large corporates such as banks are using
generic recruitment adverts in the press, directing job hunters to
micro websites as part of ongoing recruitment drives, and this
might not be reflected in the figures.
"The IT recruitment market is still fragile but it is a lot more
positive than it has been for two years. However, it is having no
impact on salaries, which if anything are still coming down," said
Butterfield.
The survey identified the public sector as a particularly buoyant
area, with advertised jobs up 32%, from 1,115 in Q4 2002 to 1,467
in Q1 2003. Virgo pointed to the growth in contract posts. "The
public sector has been going contractual for some years now," he
said. Butterfield said this was because the permanent salaries on
offer are not good enough to attract suitable candidates.
Job adverts for IT contractors were up 9.5% overall, from 10,931 to
11,968. Jobs for IT management consultants (including systems
analysts, business analysts and project managers) increased by
almost 10% - 13% for contract vacancies - with permanent salary
increases of more than 5%.
However, growth was not universal. The number of IT jobs available
in central London and Scotland fell by 23% and 10% respectively.
The finance sector also continued to decline, with advertised IT
jobs down 13%.