- IT was stable compared to the previous month
- Engineering was up by 29%
- Construction jumped 190%
- Electronics grew 10%
- British economy bloody but unbowed
Still Growing in Sectors
October was a quieter month than September for IT, but that is perhaps not surprising given the current economic climate. ''But October was definitely not a quiet month for construction and engineering,' says Karen McDermott, head of marketing at the Colchester, Essex-based job board Jobserve.
''Buoyed by the many projects created by the Olympics as well as by pent-up demand in the private sector, engineering and construction continued their strong performance. There were 8,194 engineering jobs advertised in October, compared to 6,367 in October 2006, an increase of 29%. In construction 3,711 jobs were advertised compared to 1,245 last year – a rise of over 190%,'' McDermott explains.
Growth in electronics was helped along by the upward trend in manufacturing, as that sector continues to perform well despite the high value of the pound which makes British products more expensive. According to the Office for National Statistics, consumer electronics sales continued to rise on demand for new products. Electronics can be expected to remain stable so long as consumer confidence holds out within the UK, although there are already indications that export sales are slowing.
IT Is Stable
IT fell back by 6% compared to October 2006, but remained stable on a per-month basis, McDermott adds. Figures for IT are, of course, always skewed by the very high growth in the past year, so there is no reason to anticipate a slowdown in demand. Financial services remains a steady source of work for IT contractors, as we have shown in a recent article.
Pay Is High
The structure of the IT market demand has not changed markedly either. SAP, .NET data analysis and Web development remain the skills most in demand, according to the London-based job board Careerbuilder. Demand for sales-related work also remains high.
But there is good news for UK-based IT contractors: they are among the highest-paid in the world, according to a study published last month by the London offices of HR firm Mercer. Not the highest paid; that honour goes to Switzerland (where, guess what, financial services IT skills are in high demand). Belgium and Denmark also pay more--but they provide work for a much smaller number of contractors.
The US, Australia and Canada pay less than the UK. As the Mercer study explains, there is a continuing push to move lower-level jobs out of the UK, and so pay levels improve for the highly skilled jobs that remain. ''The more managerial and complex roles like vendor relationship manager, internal consultant, and IT business partner are in high demand, and are receiving high levels of remuneration in the UK," explains David Van De Voort, IT workplace specialist at Mercer.
The more managerial and complex roles like vendor relationship manager internal consultant and IT business partner are in high demand in the UK
David Van De Voort-Mercer
Desperate Need
Meanwhile the British Computer Society is still launching desperate appeals to cope with the skills shortage in this country. The Government has slated 1 billion pounds for IT education and the society wants that amount at least doubled lest the UK reach a point where it can no longer do business. Such is the need that social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn were cited by 58% of recruitment consultants as places they hunt for talent, according to research published last month by the London-based Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCO). So skilled IT contractors should be able to find work for some time.
As for engineers, vast numbers of them are about to retire, and the country is already desperately short of those needed. Nor are there nearly enough construction workers.
Construction activity ironically slowed slightly in October, but is expected to take off again this month. We've seen that the demand for contractors hasn't slowed at all; there is just a pause in activity, according to analysts. ''UK constructors are continuing to experience a period of growth, buoyed by new contract wins across the sector,'' said Roy Ayliffe, director of professional practice at the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply in London.
Bloody But Unbowed
As for the UK economy, we are in a period in which loud cries of distress emanating from the Government are entirely unjustified by the numbers. As Chancellor Alistair Darling assured us that we would ''get through'' the ''subprime crisis,'' retail sales rose and consumer confidence was rated high. The Bank of England confirmed all this when it kept interest rates at the relatively high level of 5.7%--not a move to be expected in a failing economy.
Presently businesses are remaining buoyant and deals are continuing to be done
Laura Hampson-PKF
As Laura Hampson, corporate finance director at the Cardiff office of accountants PKF put it: ''presently businesses are remaining buoyant and deals are continuing to be done.''