IT job vacancies slump by a quarter

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 21 Jan 2009 at 09:26

The number of IT jobs being advertised fell by almost 25% in the last quarter of 2008, as the struggling economy took its toll.

IT recruitment fell from 129,672 jobs in the third quarter of last year to 98,173 in the last quarter, according to numbers from Salary Services Limited (SSL). A post on its site claimed this was the worst decline in jobs since 2001 - and could soon be as bad as 1991.

The number of jobs advertised in London since the start of 2008 has fallen 45% - much of that in the past six months.

As demand falls, salaries are also being hit, says George Molyneaux, research director for SSL. "Needless to say this reduction in demand is starting to feed through to pay levels with advertised salaries remaining at the same level as last year. The first time this has happened since 1992," he claims.

Those with SQL skills are most likely to find new work. While SQL job ads fell 12.5% on-quarter, it was still the most sought after skill, across both the contract and permanent markets.