London’s 'tech city' helps to boost IT vacancies by 18 per cent

The government's investment in East London's "tech city" has helped to deliver an 18 per cent year-on-year increase in IT vacancies, according to the latest report from IT recruitment web site CWJobs.

Prime minister David Cameron announced plans in November last year to create a technology hub in London's Shoreditch area in an attempt to rival the success of Silicon Valley in the US. The government said it would invest £200m in new tech and innovation centres.

London now accounts for up to 33 per cent of all IT jobs in the UK, with more than 37,000 London-based IT jobs advertised in the second quarter of 2011 alone.

"It's promising to see that the government's investment in the IT sector is being reflected in the recruitment market," said Richard Nott, web site director at CWJobs.

"The quality of IT candidates in the UK is extremely high and often underestimated, so by positioning London at the centre of the technology world, we hope students, graduates and IT specialists will be inspired to take advantage of the opportunities available to them."

Developer roles appear to have benefitted most from the surge in vacancies, accounting for up 39 per cent of all jobs advertised.

SQL, C, C#, Java and .NET continue to be the top five most sought-after skills for both permanent and contract positions. Agile skills saw an increase in demand of 9 per cent in the first quarter.

Permanent vacancies in the financial and retail sectors were up three per cent in the last quarter, while media and manufacturing recruitment was up two per cent. Permanent public sector jobs increased by 0.5 per cent.