Number of IT vacancies hovers above 3,000

While analysts warn that the sector could be about to shed jobs

The number of vacant posts within the IT industry is stubbornly refusing to fall, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), despite generally positive trends within the UK jobs market.

Employment levels in the IT industry remain stable, with the number of vacancies stuck at 3,200 for two consecutive quarters. The ONS predicts that this will remain the case in the second quarter of 2011.

This contrasts with the height of the recession - from May through to August 2009 - when the number of vacancies was just 2,200.

Unemployment overall fell by 36,000 in the first quarter of 2011, to 2.46 million. The number of over 16s in employment increased by 118,000 over the quarter to reach 29.24 million. This marks the second consecutive quarterly increase in employment for the economy overall.

However, Clive Longbottom, founder and analyst at research firm Quocirca, warned that the IT sector could be on the brink of a bout of job losses.

"The IT industry is going through big changes, companies are looking at virtualising and consolidating," he said.

"If you're a large organisation with 10,000 servers and one system admin for each 200 servers, that's 50 people that you need. If you can consolidate down to just 1,000 servers, that's 45 people you can get rid of, and so people are actually losing their jobs right now."

He added that although the vacancy rate has remained steady, there will have been a lot of staff turnover, and the posts on offer will have changed quite dramatically.