More than a third (36 per cent) of UK firms still regard an IT leader's communications skills as a top priority, according to research by recruitment group Hays.

But the survey suggest that even though unemployment has increased the talent pool available, 58 per cent of respondents say they are still having difficulty finding IT leaders who meet that criteria.

Hays IT managing director James Lloyd-Townshend said that businesses are increasingly looking for IT managers with strong communication skills and an ability to lead their team and business processes.

"IT professionals are increasingly aware that these skills are necessary for career advancement," he said.

However, 83 per cent of IT leaders polled said they were either "very confident" or "reasonably confident" that their management teams were equipped with the right skills, an increase of 10 per cent from 2008.

Senior IT professionals also seem to be looking for increased job security, with 23 per cent saying salary was no longer as important as it was 12 months ago, down half from 2008.

Hays said the public sector was looking "increasingly desirable" to candidates, given the "many medium-to-large scale projects underway in the public sector."

Nearly half (49 per cent) of respondents felt that an IT manager must have a blend of technical and personal skills, but nearly as many (46 per cent) thought that someone with weaker technical skills could compensate with better than average people skills.

Lloyd-Townshend pointed out that employers are spending, "more time on training and development in this area, but ultimately the trick is finding a good mix of both.”

The survey polled 122 IT IT leaders of public and private sector firms across the UK.