IT unemployment reaches highest level in five years

Demand for IT professionals falls and short-term recruitment prospects are bleak, says e-Skills report

Unemployement rates for IT staff reached the highest level since 2004

Unemployment rates in IT reached a five-year high this year and demand for technology professionals has plummeted, according to the latest report by industry skills body e-Skills UK.

The proportion of IT staff out of work during the first three months of 2009 reached 4.8 per cent, the highest since the first quarter of 2004.

Demand for IT professionals has also continued to fall, according to the report, with the number of job ads for permanent staffers falling by 27 per cent, while advertised vacancies for contractors dropped by 32 per cent over the period.

IT strategy and planning professionals suffered the biggest impact, with a seven per cent quarterly decline in employment rates, but web authors and editors were the only occupational group that saw increased demand.

According to the e-Skills report, salaries rose despite the doom and gloom in the recruitment industry – weekly pay for full-time staff increased to £730, an increase of four per cent over the same period last year and up three per cent on the UK average.

IT workers are also better off in terms of bonus payments, as five per cent of IT professionals received the extra pay over the first quarter of the year, as opposed to three per cent of the general UK workforce who received some form of bonus payment.

Separate research by online recruitment specialist The IT Job Board said the second quarter of 2009 will show negative growth in employment for the sector, but there will be a significant shortage of IT personnel in the long run.

The firm reported a decline in jobs on its web site of 57 per cent year on year in May, but suggested that hiring of IT contractors in the financial services sector doubled between April and May.