Surprise increase in UK IT support jobs

Demand for IT support jobs has risen by 20% in the UK compared with two years ago, despite the growth of offshore IT support centres.

According to research from IT recruitment firm ReThink Recruitment IT support roles have grown to 30% of the total of positions in the sector advertised on job boards, compared with 24% in 2006.

The news comes amid a 6.5% fall in the total number of IT jobs advertised in the second quarter of 2008 compared with the same period in 2006.

According to ReThink rising wages in India have made the UK a more attractive venue for IT support centres.

Jon Butterfield, managing director at ReThink, said, "Offshoring has made organisations' IT functions more efficient, which has freed budgets for investment elsewhere. These new projects require support teams, and it's not always appropriate or advantageous to base these staff offshore."

ReThink said that a shortage of IT graduates suitable for entry-level roles, combined with low pay, meant IT support jobs often remained vacant for long periods and suffered a high churn rate.

"Wage inflation, and the cost of co-ordinating teams across international time zones, is starting to unravel the economic case for outsourcing. Organisations may not be repatriating jobs en masse, but when new jobs are created, the UK is becoming a viable location once again," said Butterfield.

The research found that recruitment for senior jobs have not increased over the last two years.

Distribution of new IT jobs advertised by function

Role                         June 2006                   June 2008

Analyst/Architect       2,783.6                      2,785.2

Consultant                  1,590.7                      1,665

Management and
administration            4,584.8                       3,210

Software
development/design   8,023.5                     6,505

Support                        5,614                        6,691

Systems and
network engineers       795.3                          932

Sample                      23,392                       21,786

Source: ReThink Recruitment