IT staff 'best-positioned to shelter from jobs storm'

Workers in the IT sector have emerged as the best positioned ?hard? skill candidates to weather what is set to be the stormiest period in the jobs market since the recession began.

Asked by the CIPD about their recruitment plans, hirers showed that IT staff topped the list of hard-skill occupations they require over both this current first quarter and the next five years.??????

A fifth of the hirers plan to create more IT jobs between now and 2017, with only Business Development and other soft-skills for Sales/Marketing roles likely to be ?hotter? over the period.

In terms of their shorter-term plans, 15% of the hirers said they would focus on the IT department, positioning techies to be the sixth most in-demand candidate (out of a total of 15 candidate-types).

Similar to the five-year outlook, IT candidates in the current quarter should only lose out in the demand stakes to their softer-skilled, non-technical counterparts, such as executives, secretaries, office managers and sales assistants.

But the hiring managers? positive intentions around IT staff are against a negative jobs outlook overall, as 60% do not see their outfit creating any new jobs before the quarter?s end, in March.

Moreover, the net employment balance (the difference between the responding hirers who plan to add jobs versus those who plan to cut them) is down to minus-8, from minus-3 in the autumn period.

This means that the private sector now expects to cut jobs at its fastest pace since spring 2009, said the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which quizzes the 1,000 employers every quarter.

?Whereas [they] were in ?wait and see? mode three months ago, more private sector firms, particularly among private sector services firms, have decided to push the redundancy button in response to worsening economic news,? the CIPD said.

?This will exert yet more pressure on a jobs market that is buckling under the strains of contractions in economic growth and public sector employment.?

Although such macro market pressures threaten to impact on all job-seekers? prospects, British-born IT job candidates appear to be facing sector-specific, micro challenges too.

According to the reading of UK hiring managers, IT will clearly be the preferred area of the organisation to recruit migrant workers into this year, though already such non-EU candidates are more likely to occupy an IT role than any other regularly-filled role.

Source: http://www.contractoruk.com/news/0010426it_staff_best_positioned_shelter_jobs_storm.html

drew peterson florida gop debate freddie mac kristin cavallari solar flare