A boom in both permanent and temporary IT vacancies was seen in January, according to a seasonally adjusted index measuring IT job demand.
The Report on Jobs, published today by KPMG and the REC, revealed a three-month high demand for permanent staff in the IT sector (64.4), following a 17-month low (63.9) at the end of 2014.
The latest rise in permanent vacancies was marked overall, albeit fractionally weaker than the UK-wide trend (65.1), with IT & Computing ranked fifth out of nine in the demand for staff rankings.
Growth of demand for temporary IT staff was little-changed from December’s 15-month low in January, with the respective index rising only marginally to 62.6 (from 62.5).
Despite falling below the national average (63.1), the pace of expansion remained strong in comparison with historic survey data. IT & Computing placed fourth out of the nine monitored sub-sectors in the demand for staff ‘league table’.
Heath Jackson, partner in the CIO Advisory practice at KPMG, said: "They say good news comes in threes and it certainly seems to be the case for the UK economy."
"The past month has seen a rise in employment, a jump in the number of jobs being created and a growing number of firms prepared to pay more to land the best staff."
"However, the good news is only half the story. Starting salaries may be continuing to rise for the jobs being created today, but this is unsustainable over the long term.
"Employers will reach a point where they cannot afford to keep throwing money at candidates, no matter how much their skills are in demand. We are some way off this happening, but if does, candidates who are in demand today might find it harder to knock doors down, tomorrow."
