It’s been a tough time of late in the IT recruitment world with little real hiring going on. However, despite the fact that 2003 was a relatively slow year, many recruiters are optimistic about how the sector is going to perform in 2004. One could almost go so far as to say that some recruitment specialists are practically rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of a good year ahead.
IT companies have been pretty much sitting on their hands during the downturn, with projects postponed and recruitment put on hold. However, according to Barry Paterson, managing director of IT Talent, this year is looking much better. ‘We found that towards the end of last year there seemed to be a lot more interest and indeed activity in the recruitment sector, which seems to have carried through to this year as well,’ he says. ‘We’re getting a lot of clients who are saying that they’re gong to be looking at expansion during the first or second quarter.’
Elizabeth Neligan, managing director of Computer Staff Recruitment (CSR) also believes that the sector has gotten a lot livelier. ‘We started to see things lifting around September of last year and that has continued in to the New Year,’ says Neligan. ‘There is room for optimism. Vendors are beginning to hire again because they see that they don’t have enough people for the work they have coming up and we’re also seeing a big increase in demand for software engineers, which would seem to suggest that companies are beginning to reinvest in development projects.’
However, while there’s definitely movement occurring in the local IT sector, many of the new positions being advertised aren’t necessarily at the technical end as Paul Carroll, business development director with CPL and president of the National Recruitment Federation, makes clear. ‘We have seen a substantial number of vacancies registered in January. But I’d say that overall, the vacancies aren’t as good as in the past. What I mean by that is that they don’t seem to be as high value. There’s a plethora of technical support roles, system administration roles etc, but not a huge amount of higher-level positions.
However, all the indicators are in place that things are getting better and so this will eventually change. ‘Carroll also claims that while there may be an increase in vacancies registered, companies aren’t rushing to fill them. ‘The number of vacancies across the board is well up but there is a slowness to actually convert those vacancies into filled jobs. That’s not uncommon in times of economic slowdown where the actual length of the vacancy is longer than it would be in buoyant times. There are two reasons for this – one is that people are more cautious with their budgets and the other is that the candidates are also more risk adverse. Candidates are spending as much time evaluating the opportunity as clients are.’
The primary reason why IT companies are beginning to recruit again is the fact that the economy is showing signs of improvement. Another factor is that salaries and contractor rates have come down substantially during the last two years. Barry Paterson says, ‘two or three years ago, things were so hyped that a contractor with a lot of Visual Basic experience would have been getting in the region of IEP£40 an hour. Now, however, they’re being paid between EUR30-35 per hour, which is a big drop.’
Despite downward wage pressures, both the permanent and contracting sectors are on the up at present says Paterson, who believes that contracting in particular is likely to be a popular choice this year. ‘From a development point of view, if you are dipping your toe in the water in terms of starting projects, do you really want to go to the expense or risk of employing someone on a permanent basis? I think a lot of companies are looking at things from a project angle and therefore they’ll opt for a contractor.’
09/02/04
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers