Contractor demand in the IT sector looks set to increase as a result of multiple factors, with the buoyant market climate fuelling unrest amongst employees. Savvy IT contractors should be able to exploit these market factors to generate new contracts.
This is according to the Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2016 report, which shows that there is serious scope for expansion within the IT sector as staff retention looks likely to pose a problem for clients, driving up contractor demand in the process.
After a profitable year for the sector, 72% of those IT firms surveyed by the recruiter expect business activity to continue its trend of growth throughout 2016. Three quarters of clients are reporting plans to increase headcounts in response.
“Economic confidence is fuelling optimism within the IT sector as we go into 2016 and staff are reaping the rewards,” explains Director of Hays Information Technology James Milligan.
“However, IT companies face an alarming number of staff departures next year as employees move on in search of even better salaries and career progression, prompting an escalation in the war for talent which is already raging in the IT sector.”
With 63% of IT professionals expressing plans to trade in their desk for alternate opportunities, clients will be under even more pressure to plug gaps in the workforce.
This - coupled with the fact that four in five firms are concerned that the ongoing skills shortage will present a challenge to recruiters – suggests that IT contractors are expected to be able to command substantial rates for their expertise.
Of the IT professionals considering a change of scenery, almost a third are doing so in order to bulk up their pay packet. Notably, the report points towards the wealth of available contracts and the “ever-increasing rates” for contractors as a significant factor impacting the number of departing employees.
Demand for cloud and virtualisation skills are particularly sought after, whilst business intelligence, analysts, BI developers and database administrators are in short supply in the financial and public sectors.
“IT contractors are perfectly placed to capitalise on substantial market demand,” concludes ContractorCalculator CEO Dave Chaplin. “These results go to show that contractors in the sector who continue to up-skill and seek out opportunities will be able to secure an ongoing stream of lucrative contracts.”