Pubsec ICT job gloom far from abating

The number of public sector ICT vacancies continued to fall at the end of 2011 - amid a ramping up of demand across private sector roles.

 

A 16% decrease in public sector technology roles up for grabs in the last quarter of 2011 marked the ninth consecutive quarter of decline across the sector, according to data from specialist IT recruitment website CWJobs.co.uk and JobAdsWatch.

 

In a year when mobile apps took off in earnest, developers dominated the recruitment space, making up 41% of all IT jobs advertised by the final quarter of 2011. Contract IT personnel were also in high demand, with a 25% increase in postings year-on-year.

 

SQL was the most sought after skill in 2011; however, demand for software development methodology, Agile, went up by 59% in the number of permanent job postings over the year (Q4 ’10 to Q4 ’11), further demonstrating its wide spread adoption in the industry. 

 

Richard Nott, Website Director at CWJobs, noted that, “In 2011 we saw a reasonable bounce in the sector. While there’s no denying the impact the economy has had on the rate of growth, these statistics show that there’s recovery happening and the private sector and the South East of England are leading this. 

 

“Last year the spotlight was on the IT industry, particularly on areas such as security and mobile. As new issues and opportunities continue to shape the sector, skills requirements and job opportunities will change accordingly.”