IT mangers will be looking to expand their teams in coming months in response to improved market conditions, with particular focus on hiring permanent staff, according to recruitment firm Hays Information Technology.
In its quarterly report for January to March this year, the firm notes employers are creating new roles to ‘bolster’ their teams and that preferences have shifted from contract recruitment to hiring staff on a permanent basis.
Hays regional director, Peter Noblet, said candidate levels were predicted to rise in the first quarter of 2011 as confidence in the market’s ability to provide a career-advancing opportunity had grown.
“Despite this rise, the demand for certain specialist skills will not be met,” Noblet said in a statement. “The shortage of these skills will remain a challenge for employers even as candidates move and employers recruit, creating a busy but tight market.”
“There’s no doubt that we’re very quickly returning to a state of candidate shortage, and will continue in this direction as more organisations experience growth,” he said.
According to the report, IT skill areas in demand include project and program managers and business analysts. The bolstered market is expected as business confidence returns in 2011 and organisations restart shelved projects for kicking off new projects.
The report also indicates demand for client-facing and hands-on technical skills, as well as senior developers and architects.
Within the public sector, those with knowledge and experience of recently introduced products will be the most sought after as companies look to upgrade.
This follows a recent report from Advantage Professional which indicated the IT jobs market had slumped significantly over December, with job ads nationally dropping some 5.3 per cent.