The latest IT Contractor News from Contract Eye

One of many interesting facts to be derived from a recent e-skills report is that the average age of IT professionals keeps on rising.

The average age of an IT pro now stands at 39, but of more interest perhaps is the fact that the percentage of people in the IT profession who are over 40 has increased from 32% to 47% over the past ten years.

The percentage of people working in IT between the ages of 16 and 29 has fallen from 32% in 2001 to a mere 19% in 2011.

Just 18% of people working in IT & Telecoms are women, compared to 48% of the UK workforce as a whole. This figure has actually declined from 22% in 2001, however the gender gap is not unique to the UK - a similar percentage of women work in the IT industries of Italy, Belgium, and Germany.

The e-skills UK 'Technology Insights 2012' report, based on the responses of 4,700 business, paints a detailed picture of the country's IT industry, and how it has fared over the past few years since the 2008-9 recession began.

Further findings from the e-skills report

• The overall demand for IT professionals has risen over the past three years, but has not yet recovered to pre-2008 levels.


• The demand for IT contractors grew by 64% between 2009 and 2011, although this followed a 55% drop in demand during the 2008-9 credit crunch.


• 1 in 20 now work in the IT industry - either as IT professionals, or in 'support' functions.


• Of the 116,000 IT job openings advertised last year, 81% were for permanent staff, 19% were for contractors.


• The most in-demand skills for both perm and contract were SQL, C, C#, .NET and Java.


• The roles most in-demand by recruiters are 'systems developers' (35%), followed by PMs (7%) and Systems Administrators (6%).


• The breakdown of the Top 10 skills for both permanent and contractor recruitment during 2011 are very similar.


• 62% of IT workers have an HE or equivalent qualification - way above the national average for all industries.


• Just 13% of 'self employed' IT professionals are likely to be provided with training each quarter, compared to an average of 25%.


• There are 144,000 IT & Telecoms 'workplaces' in the UK, the largest proportion providing 'IT services', including consultancy and programming.


• 45% of all IT workplaces are in London and the South East, employing 42% of the entire IT workforce.