The public sector could face an IT skills shortage as contractors move back into financial services, research reveals.
A survey of 2,100 IT contractors, by recruitment firm Giant Group, shows that 21.2 per cent of IT contractors now work in financial services – up from 19.9 per cent six months ago – compared to 20.5 per cent in the public sector, which is unchanged.
The figures mean that the public sector may find it increasingly difficult to recruit IT staff and secure the skills it needs, said Matthew Brown, managing director at Giant.
“There are not many out-of-work IT contractors for the City to pick up so it is becoming a question of who will it poach from,” he said.
“It will be particularly tough for the public sector to compete with the City on pay and benefits, but if it does not it could face skills shortages.
“E-government projects tend to be heavily reliant on a number of key individuals who can be very hard to replace.”
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