IT unemployment reaches highest level in five years

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

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.

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-Ken