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February 2009

UK Jobswatch

The UK job boards are certainly an indicator of the slump in employer demand. With most boards reporting further decline this quarter – are there any bright spots?

Although HR, Engineering and construction are feeling consecutive declines, demand in healthcare, education and training and public sector workers remains strong.

Within IT, Security, wireless, and surprise!, infrastructure remain key areas for careers. The Top 10 in both contract and permanent are not moving much. Currently, we are seeing growth in Contract Security cleared jobs.  For the first time, the skill has crept into the Top ten within the UK moving 14 places up into 7. The majority of the increase is seen in London and its surrounding southern regions. Alongside its increase in job numbers is the increase in the daily rate, the only contract rate in the Top 10 seeing an increase in fact.

Why the sudden increase? Demand continues to grow for Security Cleared professionals, driven by an increase in security consciousness, and the fact that more organisations are dealing with government bodies.

With continued uncertainty over how long the downturn will last coupled with shrinking budgets, companies are needing to maximise their existing assets and get more out of their current IT infrastructure. With security, firewalls and data privacy rated as the most important skills, highly skilled IT professionals will remain in demand.