Financial IT job market recovery continues

Permanent IT job vacancies have grown in the first half of 2010

First-quarter growth in the financial services sector of the IT job market continued into the second quarter, according to the latest Financial Services IT hiring index from recruiter McGregor Boyall.

The index tracks the number of vacancies received from a range of 16 financial markets organisations. "While our last report showed a sharp increase in opportunities during the first two months of the year, by the end of June we had seen a 255 per cent jump in permanent vacancy numbers compared with the beginning of the year, which is almost unprecedented," a spokesperson from the recruiter said.

Vacancies increased in the contract market by 75 per cent compared with the first week of January, suggesting that IT budgets for specific projects are growing.

The index also showed that permanent hiring has now outgrown contract hiring in contrast to the trend last year.

“The very sharp increase in permanent roles, which is continuing to outpace contract requirements, indicates an increased level of confidence in the market,” the spokesperson added.

The most in-demand skill sets continue to be dominated by developers (41 per cent of vacancies) and business analysts ( 16 per cent). The top three most active hirers from a product area perspective have been risk (14 per cent), derivatives (13 per cent) and equities (9 per cent).