Over three quarters of IT leaders expect demand for skilled IT workers to increase over the next 12 months, according to research.

A study by recruitment software supplier SkillsMarket found the top issue for IT recruitment companies in 2007 is a skills shortage.

Rick Bacon, chief executive of SkillsMarket, says data from a separate skills survey shows a 50 per cent drop in the number of permanent and contract jobseekers over the last year.

‘Our survey also showed that IT staff are now earning record rates of pay. In fact the highest since our records began in Q2 2002,’ said Bacon.

Jane Binner associate director at recruitment agency Computer People says there is a skills shortage across the IT industry and it is an increasing challenge to fill development roles.

‘Companies are not recognising a gap between high demand and low supply which means a rise in salaries,’ said Binner.

‘Employers are not recognising a supply and demand factor which needs to be considered in their salary package or their contract rates,’ she said.

Binner believes companies must come to terms with where the skills shortages are and recognise there is a premium associated with those candidates filling high demand skilled roles.

‘Companies also need to look at cross-training people into different skillsets, accepting compromised skillsets and offering incentives to retain people longer term after they have trained them,’ she said.