Dr John Philpott, the chief economist at the CIPD, believes that the executive search market will continue to grow because neither the public nor the private sector has the ability to find and retain highly skilled workers.
This news could be good for umbrella company contractors who are searching for their next project. However, not all the news is positive.
Philpott also believes that unemployment will keep on rising until summer 2012, when it will peak at 2.85 million.
The IT sector has seen a decrease in the number of manager and project manager vacancies over the past few months. IT support staff are still in demand, as are web developers and people with experience in SQL, Java and .net.
Alex Farrell, MD of the IT Job Board which published the above findings, said that the decline in project management vacancies showed that companies have cut back on large IT projects that require specific skills. He also remarked that both permanent and temporary vacancies have decreased in the last few months and jobs for contractors now represent 25% of the vacancies advertised.
Prospects for temporary workers are not looking too promising at the moment either. A recent survey carried out by the REC has discovered that two thirds of the agencies that recruit for public sector bodies have seen a 20% drop in placements. This drop was evenly spread amongst support and admin roles and front line staff.
Most agencies expect to see a considerable drop in demand for temps over the next 12 months. The REC will however continue its campaign to promote the benefits a flexible workforce can bring to the country’s economic recovery.
© 2010 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Image: Unstable by Abe Ariel’s Photography
