JOB MARKET RECOVERY BLOSSOMS

摘要

Figures for the third quarter prove that the recession in IT is definitely over and IT professionals looking for their next job can expect a pay rise above inflation. Nicholas Enticknap reports on the latest SSL/ Computer Weekly salary survey. Jobs available for IT professionals surged upwards in the third quarter of 2004. The number of jobs advertised on the web nearly doubled compared to a year ago. It was also up a third on the total shown in the second quarter, which is remarkable as the third quarter contains the summer holiday period, and so advertising, along with other business activity, usually declines markedly. The position in the contract market was even more encouraging, as the number of job ads more than doubled relative to a year ago, and was up by a half on the second quarter. Furthermore, in both permanent and contract jobs the salaries on offer were significantly higher than a year ago. In the permanent market the median rise was 4.3%, which is only the second time in the past three years that it has been above the headline rate of inflation, and is the highest since the peak of the Y2K boom in early 1999. In the contract market the rise was even greater, at 6.7%.