Financial services IT contractors enjoy market upturn

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Financial services IT contractors enjoy market upturn

Posted Mar 17, 2010

New figures show that IT contractors in the financial services sector have enjoyed something of a revival in fortunes, with the number of contract jobs offers up 57% on the same period in 2009.

The survey, carried out by city pre-employment screening firm Powerchex show an improvement in recruitment activity in London's financial sector - with job offers up 6% on last month.

This change in fortunes for IT contractors working in the sector is encouraging, following nearly two years of savage cuts across the industry, however Alexandra Kelly, a director at Powerchex, said that these figures were not altogether unexpected:

"It is fairly normal to see a small increase in job offers around this time, especially amongst IT contractors to the financial sector; as we come towards the end of the financial year, managers tend to revive non‐vital projects as they realise they have money left to spend in their budgets."

"What is important is that companies do not to forget that IT contractors represent a significant risk because they typically have access to large quantities of sensitive information. It is just as important for companies to vet their temporary staff as well as their permanent hires, and this should extend to full referencing, as well as credit and criminal checks."

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