Finance & Banking Sectors Still the Major Players in IT Recruitment

A leading UK recruitment agency in the IT jobs sector has released data from their Q1 2009 records which indicates a strong resilience in the financial and banking sectors regarding their Information Technology recruiting power.The recruitment agency in question is well placed to provide a litmus test for the UK IT jobs industry having nationwide coverage and a wealth of experience in sourcing and placing vacancies and candidates in the IT sector. The strength of these sectors spans both temporary/contractual positions as well as permanent vacancies. The figures used are all based on actual client requirements that were received over the given period; as such they show national averages and consequently do not reflect specific regional differences.Contractual positions: 1. Finance; 2. Banking; 3. Investment Banking; 4. Government; 5. Telecoms.Permanent positions: 1. Finance; 2. Banking; 3. Pensions; 4. Telecoms; 5. E-Commerce.Given the well documented problems in these sectors in the second half of 2008 and the mixed results coming from the large financial institutions in 2009 so far, it is encouraging to note that these major players in IT recruitment are still topping the list for demand for IT talent. This helps to show the resilience of the IT sector, especially in organisations such as those in banking and finance which heavily rely on high tech systems and computerised data collection and distribution.Although in the back end of 2008 there were numerous redundancies across all job and industry sectors, including IT, the strength and importance of IT workers is borne out by the strong showing from these sectors which were most badly hit in the UK recession. Highly skilled technical staff in the demanding fields of IT programming, analytics and system architecture will always be in demand and are still able to command excellent salaries. Forming the lynchpins of virtually innumerable financial related institutions, the IT systems experts are finding that their skills are once again becoming increasingly in demand as the large organisations start to plan for the upturn that can be expected in the wider economy over the coming months.There may be more of a tendency in the short term for some companies to favour offering shorter term contracts, but as the economy stabilises and begins to show signs of growth we can expect to see a slight shift towards long-term and permanent contracts being offered to the most skilled IT staff, because the need for such professionals will be increasing all the time and companies will be keen to hold onto the top talent.Indeed some companies may already be rueing releasing IT workers last year only to find that they are now urgently in need of the very same skills even now as the first signs of recovery are being felt.The agency continues to closely the monitor the entire IT sector and as the year progresses will be making further informed observations about the UK IT jobs sector. On this evidence, the IT industry certainly remains a strong career path for relative stability and demand for skills.

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