IT jobs: More vacancies than applicants

Ratio of job vacancies to applicants back to 2008 level...

There are more jobs in IT than IT staff looking for work, according to e-skills UKPhoto: Shutterstock

The number of advertised IT jobs is now marginally greater than the number of people looking for work in the sector, according to industry body e-skills UK.

A survey by e-skills UK shows that advertised vacancies in the IT sector rose to 101,000 positions in the third quarter of 2010, while the number of IT staff looking for new jobs declined to just over 100,000. There were more vacancies in IT than applicants for the first time since 2008.

The number of IT workers claiming Job Seekers Allowance fell to 29,000 with the IT unemployment rate falling to 3.1 per cent. That figure compares with an overall unemployment rate of 8.3 per cent for the workforce as a whole, suggesting individuals looking for work in IT are better off than those looking for work in other industries.

The report found that increased demand for IT workers has not yet had an impact on overall pay for IT staff. Average permanent salaries remained unchanged from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2010, while contractor salaries experienced an increase of just one per cent in the same period.

However, the report identified some specific roles in the IT sector that experienced increases in average advertised pay. Advertised salaries for contract web designers and operations analysts rose by over 10 per cent, while permanent positions including senior systems administrators and IT managers also experienced increases in advertised pay.

A separate report by IT recruiter Greythorn predicted that the London 2012 Olympics will generate an additional 5,000 jobs in IT and telecoms.