Financial IT job market increasing sharply

Recent findings show promise for the recovery of IT jobs in finance

There has been an increase in available permanent, rather than contract, roles

The number of IT jobs within the financial services sector increased sharply during the first two months of 2010, according to specialist recruiter McGregor Boyall.

The company claims that the skills most demanded during the first quarter of 2010 were those of developers (42 per cent of vacancies) and business analysts (16 per cent).

In terms of product areas, the top three most active hirers have been derivatives (19 per cent), risk (13 per cent) and FX (14 per cent).

The company stated its findings in its Financial Services IT hiring index which tracks vacancies across 16 financial market organisations.

The company said there has also been an increase in available permanent, rather than contract, roles, and that this is promising because it suggests increasing confidence in the sector's recovery.

“We saw a steady increase in hiring requirements from the beginning of 2009 and this upward trend accelerated significantly during the first two months of 2010,” said Laurie Boyall, managing director at McGregor Boyall.

Salary prospects for IT personnel also look promising, as recruitment firm Acumin Consulting recently claimed that pay for IT security staff, at both end user and channel firms, is once again on the rise.

The news comes just a short while after high-profile job cuts in the sector, with Lloyd's Banking Group recently announcing plans to axe 5,000 jobs by December 2010. IT staff were thought to be among the worst hit by the cull.