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IT skills shortages re-emergeFrom the National Computing Centre (NCC), Manchester, UK The latest national survey of IT salaries and employment trends (the NCC Benchmark of Salaries and Employment Trends in IT) highlights clear signs that skills shortages are re-emerging after a period of relatively easy markets. The overall rate of perceived shortages, has increased from 4.2% last year to 6.8% this year, the highest shortage level reported by NCC's research in the past decade. Just under 40% of respondents indicated specific recruitment and retention issues, a significant increase on the 29% reported last year. In many cases shortages are seen as a recruitment rather than a retention issue as 73% of those indicating the need for new skills plan to acquire them by re-skilling and training existing staff. Those with Oracle, SAP, .NET, web development, network support, business analysis and project management skills will be in high demand over the next two years. With the current trend towards the adoption of virtualisation technologies, professionals with VMware experience and skills will be equally highly prized. Ian Jones, NCC’s Head of Content said, “With some skills moving into shortage, employers should be planning and budgeting for how best to acquire these skills now. It is an unwelcome message but they should be prepared for the extra cost.” Salary increases – stable growth Salary growth in the sector remains stable with respondents reporting a median salary increase of 3.7%, a small increase on last year and a rate that matches the national increase in average earnings reported by the Government. However, the number of individuals receiving performance related bonuses is on the increase, up 6% to 44%, and those that do receive a bonus have seen them rise in overall value from 7.5% to 8.3%. Typically, management faired better in both salaries and bonus levels than non-managers and those working in Greater London received a healthy 17% premium in average pay levels. The transport & utilities sector saw the largest average pay increases at 4.7%, beating the finance sector for the first time in many years. Unsurprisingly, public sector workers faired worst with average increases of just 3.0%. “The repercussions of the credit crunch are unknown, but more and more organisations are doing business on-line so demand for web related skills is buoyant. The public sector are likely to find shortages painful as the pressure to limit wage inflation is high”, said Jones. Now in its 25th year the Benchmark of IT Salaries and Employment Trends in IT has become the de-facto report used by employers to establish pay and benefits in the UK. The 2008 Research Report draws on the responses from 244 organisations which provided salary and employment details for 5,493 IT staff. The Benchmark provides detailed salary and benefit information by sector, size of organisation and geographical location. Available for purchase from www.ncc.co.uk/shop About The National Computing Centre (NCC)The National Computing Centre (NCC) is the single largest and most diverse corporate membership body in the UK IT sector. NCC champions the effective deployment of IT to maximise the competitiveness of its members' business, and serves the corporate, vendor and government communities. Press Contact Michael Dean Tel: +44 (0)161 242 2121 |