Not only are salary offerings growing steadily, but IT jobs themselves are multiplying at a very positive rate. By comparing Q4 to Q3 in 2017 and reflecting on the same period in 2016, it has been found that IT job vacancies saw an increase of 4.1 per cent year-on-year.
The positivity of the statistics that represent the growth of the industry are counter-weighted with the concerning fact that candidates are hesitating to capitalise on these opportunities.
These statistics have been drawn from a report produced by the independent job board, CV-Library, also finding that not only are candidates hesitating, but applications for these tech jobs have actually decreased by 7.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library comments on the findings: “It’s great to see that the job market in the IT sector is flourishing, particularly when compared with data from the same period last year. In Q4 2016, the Brexit vote was still raw and very much in the forefront of everyone’s minds. This is not to say that this is no longer the case, as the future of the UK is still very uncertain. However, the increase in advertised jobs suggests that as the dust begins to settle, employers are continuing to invest in their recruitment efforts and are working hard to keep driving the economy forward.”
Automation is now being looked to increasingly to take the weight of IT sector work, a shift that continues to be greatly contributed to by the lack of valuable tech skills.
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“Competition for the top candidates is tough, and this is reflected in the increase in advertised salaries across the industry. Though many companies might be reluctant to loosen the purse strings, it’s clear that offering competitive packages is important right now, especially given that unemployment is at its lowest in 42 years. What’s more, with more companies investing in their cyber security efforts, many are recognising that this requires higher pay packets to secure the top talent,” Biggins said.
Cybersecurity is a space that is suffering terribly at the hands of the waning influx of tech skills, with threats having increased exponentially in volume and complexity.
“January and February are traditionally a busy couple of months for recruitment, so we hope to see application rates pick back up in the first quarter of 2018. Overall, it’s positive to see that despite ongoing uncertainty, IT organisations are taking proactive steps to rouse candidate appetite and stimulate growth in the economy. We hope that as we move ever closer to Brexit, both business and candidate confidence will continue to improve.”
