What does 2010 hold for job-seeking IT contractors?

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What does 2010 hold for job-seeking IT contractors?

Posted Dec 16, 2009

A leading IT job site has asked candidates what their predictions are for 2010. Banking, software and telecoms look like being hot sectors for the year ahead.

Key IT sectors for 2010

Nearly half (48%) of the IT Job Board survey respondents highlighted that banking would be the principal sector, in spite of the problems it has faced in 2009.

42% believed it would be software and IT services, and 41% opted for telecoms.

Commenting on these findings, Peter Healey, sales director at The IT Job Board, said: "I believe that next year the finance sector will really pick up. Banking was the first to be hit during the recession, but it will also be the first to recover, and it will offer a lot of opportunity in terms of IT recruitment."

IT skills in demand

.net will be the main skill in demand, according to almost one third (31%) of the IT pros questioned. 29% opted for skills in SAP, 26% - Java, and 26% believed it would be web development roles.

Healey believes that IT pros should look to adopt skills in the web services arena, and advised: "As we continue to get to grips with social and business networking, Web 2.0 skills will be critical, for example .net and Java."

Contract vs Permanent

58% of those surveyed believe that contract jobs will be in greater demand during 2010, compared to permanent positions. Healey corroborated this, by stating that the latter part of 2009 saw a shift from permanent to contract roles, where companies sought greater flexibility. He believes this trend will continue in the first quarter of 2010.

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