IT contractors specialising in aerospace and defence
work have seen their pay soar by 38% over the last 12 months as
work begins on mega projects.
Aerospace and defence companies are paying IT contractors an
average of £33 per hour, compared with £24 per hour a year ago,
according to the Association of Technology Staffing Companies.
Some 5,675 IT professionals were interviewed in the
Atsco-commissioned survey. The interviews were conducted by
iProfile.
Atsco's chief executive, Ann Swain, said, "Demand for IT skills
in aerospace tends to be highly project driven. Several development
cycles are entering production stage, notably Eurofighter and the
Airbus super jumbo, creating a surge in demand for IT contractors
and a parallel increase in pay."
ReThink Recruitment director Iain Blair, who manages the
consultancy's aerospace and defence practice, said, "The major
project that is pulling in large numbers of IT professionals is the
Ministry of Defence's Information Infrastructure project."
Work began on the MoD's £4bn DII project a year ago. The project
will provide a network for 300,000 users spread across the armed
services and based at more than 2,000 locations.
The rates being paid by aerospace and defence companies also
increased because relatively few people had the security clearance
needed to work on new projects.
Blair said, "Once candidates obtain security clearance, they are
extremely marketable within these sectors, but the process of
obtaining clearance can make the sector challenging to break into
initially."
Demand has grown for ITIL-qualified contractors and for people
with niche skills in the applications used in aircraft design -
computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacture and product-data
management.
However, aerospace and defence companies are still paying less
than companies in other sectors.
According to the Atsco survey, the median pay for IT contractors
in all sectors is £40 per hour.
IT professionals working in the City have the highest hourly
rate of £50. Contractors who specialise in investment banking
applications, however, earn much more than that.
Recruitment consultancy McGregor Boyall estimates that Java
developers are paid the equivalent of £69-£75 per hour.