 |
Free umbrella service for contractors
Save over £1400 p.a on fees Click here or call 0845 602 7712. |
Demand for IT contractors falls for sixth successive quarter, but rate of decline slowing
Posted Jul 21, 2009
The latest quarterly SSL/JobAdsWatch report shows that the demand for IT contractors has fallen for the sixth successive quarter, but the pace of decline has slowed.
Permanent IT Jobs
In the permanent IT jobs market, the demand of IT staff declined by 10.1% in the second quarter of 2009, compared to the first. Although this is still a startling fall, it is a marked improvement on the 26.3% rate of decline we witnessed three months ago. Over the past year, the number of permanent IT jobs on offer has fallen by 54.2% according to the survey.
IT Contracts
The second quarter of 2009 represents the sixth quarter in which the demand for contractors has declined - with a drop of 18.2% in the last quarter. This compares with a fall of 32% in the previous quarterly report.
Skills
The demand for contract IT skills fairly accurately matches the general demand of permanent IT skills, although the number of contract vacancies available has shrunk at a far higher rate over the past year than the number of full-time roles.
In the past quarter, some skills fared better than others, with demand for .NET skills down 16.4%, Oracle down 8.6%, but the demand for JAVA skills actually rose by 1.8%. When you look at the annual decline for the key IT skills, these latest figures don't seem quite as shocking, with demand for all the major developer skills down between 63% and 71%.
Industries
Given the rapid pace of the downturn in financial services, it will come as some relief to see the demand for IT contractors from the industry rise by 0.5% during the last quarter.
Other industries have seen further drops in demand for contractors, according to the report, with public sector vacancies down 36.9% in the quarter, media down 28.3%, and a drop of over 13% for software houses/consultancies.
Further information
You can access further details on the latest quarterly report at JobsAdsWatch.
Contractor Services
- Clarity - Chartered Accountants - Fixed Fee £95/month. No hidden extras.
- Together we're stronger! - Join PCG, representing contractors
- Professional Indemnity Insurance - Essential contractor PI cover
- AccountsNet CA - PCG Accredited. Great Value @ £65pm - View Demo
- inniAccounts - Online Accountants, 24x7 Access, Free Demo
- Qdos - IR35 experts - Providers of low cost contractor insurance
- Free Umbrella Company - Save over £1400 p.a. on fees with Springboard
- Free IR35 & Tax Review - Call ICS on 0800 195 3750
- K & B Accountancy Group - Fixed fee contractor accounting only £75pm
- Parasol - the UK's favourite umbrella company
- planIT Services - Umbrella, Ltd company, free formation & IR35 review
- Cloud 9 Group - Umbrella Solutions only £9.95 per week
- Key Directories: Contractor Accountants | Umbrella Companies
- Financial Services: Income Protection | Contractor Mortgages | Pensions
- More Services: Compare Business Insurance | Company Formation
Related Articles
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
