Permanent and contracted IT recruitment in many regions
of the UK is growing at a faster rate than in central London,
according to the Computer Weekly/SSL Quarterly Survey of
Appointments Data and Trends.
The number of advertised IT roles in the West Midlands grew by
26.4% between the second quarter of 2005 and the second quarter of
2006. In Central London, the number of IT jobs advertised grew by
10.8%.
Wales, Scotland and the East Midlands also saw big increases in
vacancies, with advertised positions increasing over the past 12
months by 21.2%, 17.9% and 17% respectively. IT recruitment was up
in every region except the North East, where the number of
advertised positions fell by 4.6%.
However, the Computer Weekly/SSL survey showed a 12.7% drop in
demand for contract IT staff between the first and second quarters
of this year.
Central London's relative weakness is led by a 35.1% drop in
advertising for IT posts in the public sector. Other parts of the
country may be benefiting from the government moving work out of
London, as public sector IT recruitment has grown in the East
Midlands (62.3%), Wales (29.7%) and Scotland (22.6%).
The manufacturing sector has more IT vacancies than it did a
year ago. Manufacturers are advertising 56% more IT roles in the
West Midlands, 52.6% more in the East Midlands and 50.6% more in
Scotland. Greater London - excluding the West End and the City -
has seen a 51.1% rise in manufacturing IT roles.
Richard Jenkins, consultant at Xansa Recruitment, said, "The
market for manufacturing IT roles is very much driven by the
contractors at the moment. They cannot demand any price, but they
do tend to know they are in demand."
Kathleen Smith, director at recruitment company Preferred
International, said, "[In the South of England outside London]
salaries are going up and the contract market is tipping back
round.
"Clients are not getting the permanent people they want and they
are giving in and hiring contractors again."
Demand is being led by big companies increasing their investment
in core systems. Smith said, "Clients need either senior developers
or lower-skilled project teams for roll-outs of national programmes
of desktop refreshes."
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