Despite the usual seasonal downturn, November showed a large demand for IT contractors throughout the professional sphere, with no sign of slowing down this Christmas.
Based on a report given by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, the need for IT specialists has been at an unprecedented high this winter, results showing the demand for contractors in the field being greater than through much of the summer months.
In a recent jobs report, IT contractors showed a demand at 53.0, which as a figure is higher than October and September when it comes to demand of services, this figure also surpassing June and July with popularity.
Whether this increasing need for contractors within the IT sector is an anomaly or simply shows a change in the times, it bodes well for limited company professionals, with December usually showing a lull in the contracting profession.
Although not matching August as the most popular month in the IT jobs market, this rise in contractor demand shows that they have a firm foothold climbing out of the recent economic downturn.
Despite these positive statistics regarding a rise in IT contracts however, when looking at the permanent jobs market, there is still a visible decline. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s add to their report however that, “the good news” – for the professional market altogether – “must be seen in the context of a fragile economy that remains susceptible to future shocks.”
What is clear with this is that a shortage of specialist services in the IT jobs market continues to exist, the REC’s report stating ‘General IT’ and ‘Development’ being difficult skills to source, this being true on both a temporary and full time basis. IT specific expertise such as Java, .NET and ASP are also lacking the proficiency across the commercial market on a permanent basis.
The new year is looking positive for those working in IT, and jobs boards across the market will no doubt be very busy throughout 2013.
What does this sentence actually mean?
“IT specific expertise such as Java, .NET and ASP are also lacking the proficiency across the commercial market on a permanent basis.”
Basically, permanent workers trained in those skill sets are scarce across the IT jobs market.