Demand for permanent & temporary IT jobs continues to grow

The IT jobs market continues to go from strength to strength, despite demand for permanent jobs in the sector falling slightly to 68.5 from 69.6, according to the KPMG and REC job demand index. This number represents a much stronger position than other industries, which, on average stood at 65.9. IT and Computing performed the second highest against nine of the measured sectors, marking it out as one of the fastest growing industries in the UK recruitment world. Temporary IT worker demand also fell slightly from 65.9 to 65.5, but is still considered to be doing well by the researchers, and was above the UK-wide average for all industries of 64.9 and showed that short-term staff were faring better in comparison to previous periods. Although not as impressive as in the permanent sector, temporary IT roles ranked fourth out of nine for the measured industries. Heath Jackson, partner in the CIO Advisory practice at KPMG, said: “The demand for permanent and temporary IT staff has continued to grow strongly for yet another month, though a slowdown in salary growth can be seen and comes as little surprise.  Businesses of pay freezes, it is something employers will have to consider very carefully.  The ruling, earlier this week, on holiday and overtime pay will ensure this is an issue that will rumble on for some time.” The Report on Jobs features original research data from Markit, collected via questionnaire from a panel of 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies.