Demand for IT personnel in the public sector saw tremendous growth between October and December 2004 according to the latest statistics from the CWJobs/SSL quarterly IT skills index. The survey reveals that the number of permanent IT jobs in the public sector increased by 20% in Q4, with contract vacancies growing by 49% during the same period. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter that demand for IT personnel n the public sector has grown,, with an overall increase in vacancies of 135% between January and December 2004.
In terms of contract IT vacancies advertised between October and December 2004, the public sector outperformed the UK average with a 49% rise in jobs compared to the UK average of 14%. The public sector also smashed the annual UK average of a 166% rise, with a massive 225% increase in advertised contractor vacancies in the last 12 months. However, the 20% increase in the number of permanent vacancies in the public sector was moderate when compared with other industries, such as media with a 35% increase, while jobs in manufacturing rose by 54%.
Between January and December 2004, the public sector saw phenomenal growth of 135% in IT vacancies, this is comparable to the top performing sector software houses/consultancies with a 148% increase, followed by the finance sector, which witnessed a 140% rise in IT vacancies in the same period.
The most popular skills for permanent public sector IT staff between October and December 2004 were SQL, Office and Oracle, with average salaries for developers with these skills at 27,081, 36,000 and 30,288 respectively during Q4 2004. The top three required skills for IT contractors in the public sector were Office, Prince and Oracle.
Commenting on the statistics, Richard Nott, Sales Director at CWJobs said:
ìThere has been huge investment in e-government initiatives which is evident by the increase in demand for IT personnel to initiate and undertake these projects. However, some government departments are still not set to meet the looming e-government deadline so we expect to see the number of IT vacancies in the public sector increasing throughout 2005. The governmentís IT initiatives provide public sector organisations with the opportunity to reap significant benefits, such as cost savings, streamlining internal processing so it makes sense to employ IT specialists who can make these changes happen.î
If you would like further information, please contact: Kathryn Cotsworth, Wildfire PR, kathrync@wildfirepr.co.uk Tel: 0208 339 4420
Demand for IT personnel in the public sector intensifies
CW/SSL stats reveal 102% and 225% annual boost in permanent and contractor vacancies respectively
