UK Companies Predict Q4 Recovery

Nearly two-thirds of UK companies expect the recovery of the UK economy to begin in the fourth quarter of 2003. These are the results of a recent survey by specialist IT job board, CWJobs.co.uk. The research also found that once the recovery is assured, over half of the companies felt they would be recruiting computing and telecommunications staff within two months.

47% of companies predicted the need to recruit permanent ICT (Information and Communication Technology) staff in 2003.

The most popular skills expected to be in demand in 2003 are Oracle, Java and UNIX, VB and SQL Server.

Nearly half of companies recognise that contractors are key to the delivery of ICT services in the future.

63% stated recruitment agencies in some form would be the main method of recruiting staff.

The single most important factor in enabling companies to recruit more ICT staff is new developments and or projects.

Commenting on the findings, Nigel Sterndale, User Experience Director of CWJobs Ltd said: We are starting to see tentative signs that the IT sector is on the road to recovery. This gives us real evidence to support the widespread optimism that the IT sector will begin to bounce back later this year.

The survey was conducted by CWJobs in association with Computer Futures Solutions Ltd during February 2003. The sample size was 272 respondents within UK companies who have ICT (Information and Communication Technology) staff recruitment responsibilities. UK companies from all sectors were included in the survey, though 45% of respondents were from ICT companies.