First signs of upturn in IT market

Temporary contract rates up 14%, permanent salaries up 10% in last three months

The Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo) iProfile Skills Survey, the IT industryís most comprehensive report on the value of permanent and temporary staff was launched today, revealing the first real signs of an upturn in the IT marketplace after two years of declining rates of pay.

The report shows that since September there has been a significant increase in the market value of key skills, with the top five (C , Java, MS SQL Server, MS Visual Basic and Unix) experiencing a 10% increase in annual salaries and 14% increase in temporary contract rates.

Comments Ann Swain, Chief Executive of ATSCo: ìSentiment is still fragile and nobody wants to forecast a false dawn but ATSCo members have reported an upturn in the placement of temporary and permanent staff in recent months.î

ìThese results, along with the recent recovery in share value of recruitment companies, may indicate the first tentative signs of a recovery in confidence following the recent economic slowdown. Job cuts over the last two years had pared IT Departments down to the bone so any pick up in, say, investment banking or 3G mobile activity is going to feed through very quickly.î


According to iProfile Skills Survey data, this upward trend is in sharp contrast to the decline in earnings over the previous year. By September the total decrease in value since the beginning of 2002 was 20% for annual salaries and 26% for contract rates.

In the first nine months of 2002 an average of almost 10,000 per annum had been wiped off earnings for salaried staff and 10 per hour in a contract role.

Since September, however, earnings have bounced back. This is especially true of contract roles, which have regained an average of almost 5 per hour. IT professionals in permanent positions have regained an average of 3,000 per annum.

Says Ann Swain; ìContractors are usually the first into and the first out of a recession.î

Says Alex Charles, Director of TheSkillsMarket, the company that owns iProfileStats; ìOver the last few months weíve had reports of pockets of recovery in most of the major skill areas due to companies starting projects that had previously been put on hold. This is reflected in current pay increases for contract and permanent staff. It is, however, probably still too early to predict a more sustained recovery.î

According to ATSCo, the research was commissioned because members had been requesting information about demand for certain skills, IT contractor rates and permanent salaries.

Says Ann Swain; ìClient organisations have also been approaching ATSCo for benchmarking information and until now figures based on actual rates and salaries have not been available. ATSCo members can now provide this valuable information to their clients and use it in responding to invitations to tender.î

About the iProfile Skills Survey:
The iProfile Skills Survey is the industryís most detailed and comprehensive report on the value of IT skills, providing IT recruiters with the definitive guide to contract rates and salaries across different roles, regions and sectors.

Statistics on more than 20,000 IT professionals have been used to produce this report with more than 6,000 responding to a specially designed survey during Quarter 3/4 2002.

The survey provides detailed analysis on:

Hourly Contract Rate and Annual Salary of IT Skills by years of experience, specific industry sectors, and different UK locations

Hourly Contract Rate and Annual Salary of IT Roles

Changes in the value of IT Skills over the last six months

If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please contact Michelle on 0207 354 9669 or michelle.stewart@theTheSkillsMarket.com