The
IT recruitment market bucked the seasonal trend at the end of last year,
according to new figures.
The
latest statistics from the CWJobs Quarterly IT Skills Index shows an overall
increase in advertisements for both permanent and contract IT vacancies.
Despite
December typically being a slow month for recruitment, permanent IT vacancies
rose by an average of 4 per cent between October and December 2003, and IT
contract jobs increased by 1 per cent.
The
index also showed:
•
Outer London is the only region to see growth in both contract (16 per cent)
and permanent (14 per cent) jobs
•
Most regions have seen growth in permanent vacancies – the biggest rises being
in outer London, the West Midlands (10 per cent) and inner London (9 per cent)
•
Contract positions dropped dramatically in the East Midlands (21 per cent)
•
In the fourth quarter of 2003, 97 per cent of permanent vacancies were
advertised online
Operations
director at CWJobs John Salt said: "The increase in job volumes throughout
the final quarter of 2003 is a positive indication of a sustained recovery in
the IT market, especially as the run up to Christmas is usually very slow.
"Banking
and finance continue to lead the growth, but we have also seen an increase in
software, media and consultancy demand."
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The
CWJobs/SSL data is based on key information taken from UK-based jobs advertised
in the UK’s leading IT and multi-sector recruitment websites, together with
jobs advertised in IT business magazines and selected regional and national
newspapers.
