24th September 2010

IT contractors remain optimistic

Contract and freelance workers in the IT sector are optimistic about employment opportunities in the coming months.

Recent figures from Powerchex revealed there had been an unexpected dip in demand for temporary IT workers in August, with the number of available positions falling by 47 per cent.

However, a study conducted by Giant has found that 30 per cent of contractors still believe the financial services sector will provide the most jobs – double the number of contractors asked the same question in 2009.

Conversely, just 9.4 per cent of those surveyed said the public sector is likely to have employment opportunities for contractors, with widespread spending cuts having a negative effect on recruitment.

Powerchex founder Alexandra Kelly noted that there are likely to be more jobs available to contractors overseas as a result of slow recruitment in the UK.

"The summer has brought a slowdown and the prediction now is that the fourth quarter will be slower than anticipated...[as] clients are becoming weary", she said.

"A few are considering moving some operations outside the UK, [so] expect to see more growth in international assignments for IT contractors, especially in Asia."