Hopes for a reprieve in the IT jobs market were dispelled today, with news that IT vacancies plummeted by 38% in the final quarter of 2002, the worst drop since the economic slowdown began 18 months ago. These disappointing figures from the CWJobs UK Quarterly Regional IT Skills Index put an end to hopes for an early recovery after Q3 2002 figures seemed to suggest a slowdown in the rate of decline.
North East and North West see lower rates of decline (34%& 33%) than the UK average
IT jobs fall by over 43% in East Midlands and West & Wales
East Midlands the worst hit region in 2002 - overall decline of 83%
37 times more IT jobs advertised on the internet than in print
SQL, C & Unix are the most sought after IT skills
The worst hit region in Q4 2002 was the East Midlands where vacancies dropped by 45%, closely followed by the West and Wales, which experienced a drop of 43%. However, no region got off lightly with every part of the UK seeing over a third less IT jobs advertised than in Q3 2002.
The annual figures show that the IT jobs market fell by 76% between Q4 2001 and Q4 2002. During this period the worst affected regions were the Midlands - with IT job vacancies falling by 80% in the West Midlands and 83% in the East Midlands between January and December 2002. Inner London came through 2002 in the strongest position experiencing only a 62% decline in advertised IT vacancies.
On the whole, IT job vacancy advertising in print media faired slightly better than internet advertising. The decline in IT vacancy adverts in magazines was 23% from Q3 to Q4 2002 compared to a fall of 39% on the internet. However in Q4 2002 there were over 37 times as many jobs advertised on the internet than in print, showing that the internet is still by far the most popular advertising medium for IT jobs.
The most sought after IT skills across the UK in 2002 were SQL, C and Unix - these three skills have occupied the top spots since the year 2000, however SQL succeeded C in 2002 as the most popular skill. Two skills that have dropped out of the top ten in the last two years are HTML and TCP/IP. Java is also steadily dropping in popularity. On the other hand, C has been making a steady comeback - moving from 13th place two years ago to number 5 in 2002.
Commenting on the findings, Nigel Sterndale, Publisher at CWJobs said: While these statistics paint a worrying picture for the IT jobs market, it is important to remember the seasonal influence on these figures - the run up to Christmas is traditionally very slow for the recruitment industry as a whole. We have seen recruiter confidence rise significantly since the New Year and the market is looking much healthier for IT job hunters. As a specialist IT job site, CWJobs.co.uk, offers Contract and Permanent
job seekers the greatest depth and breadth of IT vacancies and should be the first port of call for IT staff looking for a new position.
The CWJobs/SSL data is based on key information taken from all the jobs advertised in the UK's leading IT and multi-sector recruitment web sites, together with jobs advertised in IT business magazines, as well as national & selected regional press. The data does not include vacancies for contract, sales or overseas-based positions.
CWJobs Statistics Show IT Job Vacancies in the UK Fell by 38% in October- December 2002
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