1. IT Monitor / Computer People Page 1 of 7
IT Monitor October 2012
Your monthly guide to salary and recruitment
trends in the UK IT market
This month’s IT Monitor brings you the most up-to-date and
comprehensive salary information from across the IT industry, Highlights from October
complete with October’s vacancy trends and analysis.
• Number of contract and permanent
vacancies fall
The IT recruitment marketplace continues to remain
• Public Sector sees significant vacancy
competitive, with different indicators pointing to different increases, bucking the recent downward
trends. While there has been another fall in both contract and permanent trend
vacancies, the percentage drop has been small, and there still remains a
• Significant rises also seen in permanent
shortage of highly skilled workers meaning that there is still more demand than Retail and contract Media vacancies
supply. This trend has resulted in the continued rise in permanent salaries and
• IT Director contract rates rise and Web
contractor rates, both month on month, and year on year. Developers fall for fifth consecutive month.
IT Director roles poised to become most
The Public Sector has experienced considerable increase in demand for both increased contract rate of 2012
permanent and contract staff, most likely as a result of the desire to find • Roles around understanding and
efficiencies through technical solutions to maintain service levels, while reducing restructuring the business continue to rise.
overall costs. Retail is also experiencing similar increases in the demand for Oracle, Business Intelligence and Project
Management roles show highest earnings
permanent staff, driven by the ever increasing movement towards online growth
shopping, and the approaching festive period.
• Increasing wage growth trend continues as
salaries and contract rates continue to rise
The demand for key technologies such as .NET and Java shows development above inflation
continues to be a hot spot for the market. Database technologies such as Oracle
• Developers continue to be the job title most
and SQL Server are also in high demand, as companies are increasing focus on in demand.
utilising the data they hold on customers to increase sales.
The IT recruitment market continues its resilience in an uncertain economic
climate, with employers still finding it difficult to secure the right quality of staff,
and candidates having their pick of opportunities.
Regards,
Niall Cook, Brand Director
Computer People
niallcook@computerpeople.co.uk
www.computerpeople.co.uk

2. IT Monitor / Computer People Page 2 of 7
IT Monitor
Vacancies fall, albeit marginally
Permanent Contract
Vacancies % Change Vacancies % Change
Number of advertised
vacancies: all sectors 12,960 -0.10% 5,700 -0.28%
Vacancies across both permanent and contract markets fail to rise for the fourth month in a row; the last rise was June
2012. Continued uncertainty in the European market along with the recent raft of redundancies in London’s financial market
has both contributed to a prolonged period of uncertainty.
This is not to say that there are no positive comments to make about the market. It is worth noting that this four month fall
has only caused a total drop of 1% in the permanent vacancies and 0.5% for contracts. Furthermore a tough year has only
claimed a 6% fall in both markets compared to this time last year. A number of key markets noted below are also showing
more available roles.
The combined results of our dedicated sectors actually display rises across both permanent and contract roles. Therefore it
must be the wider, more generalised, marketplace that must be bearing the brunt of the contraction.
Sector breakdown
Permanent Contract (per hour)
Number of advertised
vacancies: major sector Vacancies % Change Vacancies % Change
Banking, insurance and finance 1,427 0.14% 762 -1.18%
Retail 771 6.05% 89 19.09%
Telecoms 466 -1.27% 45 16.67%
Media, new media and creative 416 -3.93% 146 14.96%
Engineering and Manufacturing 299 1.01% 351 -1.13%
Public Sector 122 9.91% 189 13.86%
Banking, insurance and finance
Despite the general pessimism surrounding the financial industry at the moment the number of permanent vacancies
actually grew during October. Contract roles slightly decreased but in reality the difference is only seven roles.
It seems that whatever the state of the wider market, IT appears to be vital to the operations of all financial companies.
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3. IT Monitor / Computer People Page 3 of 7
IT Monitor
Retail
Permanent roles in the retail sector see a significant rise for the second month in a row while contract roles fall after a two
month growth period.
With retail getting ready for the festive season and given the importance of online shopping platforms to the market the
growth in permanent roles seems likely to continue for the rest of the year. For the same reason contract roles may also
return to positive ways next month.
Telecoms
After a strong quarter, the Telecoms sector suffers during October. In this specific sector the after effects of the Olympics
were expected to be felt most heavily with no legacy projects to support it.
The relatively small drop in permanent vacancies would suggest these fears may have been over exaggerated. The drop in
contract roles may appear significant but the physical difference is only nine roles.
Media, new media and creative
Contract roles bounce back from September’s drop, registering an even larger rise during October. September often sees
a drop off after the summer period whilst October reflects a rebalancing in the market. Demand from creative companies
responding to market demand for their product as the economy at large gets ready for the Christmas marketing push is
also a contributing factor.
Engineering and manufacturing
A slight rise in permanent vacancies is mirrored by a similar fall in contract roles. Representing only three or four jobs either
way there is no significant trend being exhibited here.
Public sector
It would have been a safe bet to assume that public sector roles would continue the decline experienced over the last
quarter but an increase in vacancies during October been recorded. This is unlikely to represent the reversal of a trend that
has been obvious for most of the year. This is likely just to be a one month spike or the market bottoming out for a while.
Monthly salary trends
Salaries rise again with both permanent and contract roles continuing to rise above inflation for the year. Contract roles
continue the recent trend and grow at a faster rate than permanent roles
Permanent Contract (per hour)
% changer to salary
and contract rates Monthly Yearly Monthly Yearly
October 0.15% 3.91% 0.31% 3.41%
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IT Monitor
Continued rising earnings, especially earnings that have risen above inflation for the year, are a sign of continued demand
in the marketplace. The permanent earnings increase is still nearly 15% higher than contract rates increase suggesting that
companies are generally more prepared to take a long term view of skills acquisition. The fact that this month’s contract
rate increase outstrips the permanent rise is due to the beginnings of preparation for the festive period.
Permanent (per annum) Contract (per hour)
% Average % Average % Average % Average
Job title Average change change Average change change
salary (Quarterly) (Yearly) salary (Quarterly) (Year)
.Net/C# £39,347 0.01% 7.60% £38 1.02% 3.29%
Java £47,701 -0.05% 0.24% £47 0.40% 5.00%
Oracle £52,432 0.03% 9.10% £49 1.60% 0.10%
SQL Server £38,261 -0.01% 5.25% £39 -1.23% 7.29%
Business Intelligence £53,200 0.09% 9.87% £50 -0.30% 0.61%
Web Developer £32,743 0.11% 3.73% £35 -0.45% 10.80%
Project Manager £51,945 0.05% 5.82% £51 0.30% 7.90%
SAP £67,159 -0.07% 4.90% £63 2.43% 5.45%
Testing £46,958 0.04% 7.41% £41 -1.10% 1.38%
Database £40,699 -0.05% 0.65% £45 -1.20% 7.20%
IT Director £76,513 -0.06% 4.33% £96 3.80% 10.10%
Salaries for permanent Project Manager, Oracle, .NET and Business Intelligence roles continue to rise. This keeps them at
the top of the pile for the year, in terms of salary increases, and well above inflation. This reflects a desire throughout the
marketplace to leverage the greatest potential from the business and ensure that companies are fully prepared to take
advantage of any positive movement in the economy.
On the flip side Business Intelligence contract rates drop for the month, having barely risen over the year, suggesting that
companies are interested in employing these skills only with longer term objectives in mind. This is mirrored by the trends
for Oracle roles.
Database and Java permanent roles drop and remain the only roles in the basket not to grow above inflation.
IT Director roles continue to surge in the contract environment. For the fifth month running they represent the largest
increase in contract rates. With Web Developer roles declining over the same period it is possible that IT Director
contract rates may achieve higher yearly gains by the end of 2012. Again this may indicate a short term view to strategy
redevelopment in a period of relative uncertainty.
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IT Monitor
Jobs in demand
The job demand hierarchy has remained constant throughout the year to date. Developers, Project Managers, and Analysts
remain most highly desired.
Permanent Contract
Jobs in demand
Overall Developer Developer
Project Manager Analyst
Architect Business Analyst
Business Analyst Project Manager
Web Developer Software Engineer
Senior Developer Consultant
Software Engineer Architect
Administrator Designer
Java Developer Administrator
Designer Java Developer
Support Analyst Test Analyst
Banking, Insurance Developer Analyst
and Finance
Analyst Business Analyst
Business Analyst Developer
Project Manager Project Manager
Consultant Java Developer
Java Developer Test Analyst
Senior Developer Architect
Support Analyst Engineer
C# Developer Consultant
Senior Analyst Senior Analyst
Media, New Media Developer Developer
and Creative
Web Developer Analyst
Project Manager Project Manager
Designer Engineer
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IT Monitor
Permanent Contract
Jobs in demand
PHP Developer Designer
Consultant Business Analyst
Architect Web Developer
Business Analyst Architect
Senior Developer PHP Developer
Administrator Flash Developer
Telecommunications Developer Engineer
Consultant Analyst
Project Manager Developer
Architect Project Manager
Project Manager Consultant
Software Engineer Architect
Development Manager Business Analyst
Engineering and Engineer Engineer
Manufactoring Developer Consultant
Consultant Analyst
Analyst Project Manager
Software Engineer Developer
Support Engineer Business Analyst
Senior Engineer Software Engineer
Business Analyst Support Engineer
Public Sector Manager Analyst
Analyst Developer
Developer Manager
Consultant Engineer
Engineer Consultant
Architect Project Manager
Project Manager Business Analyst
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7. IT Monitor / Computer People Page 7 of 7
IT Monitor
Wrap up
A slight drop in vacancies would appear to be a return to the status quo following the London 2012 Olympics given the
country’s economic situation. Continued overall pay growth suggests that despite this there remains demand for the jobs
that are out there. Recent figures also show that the job in the overall market are being filled at the fastest point for 18
months so both employers and candidates may just be feeling a little more confident about the future. Watch this space.
Key skills in demand: The continuing speed of this marketplace means that development technologies are always in
demand. Customers are changing the way they buy, business are changing the way the sell, the market is changing the
way it behaves.
Big Data is increasingly becoming the new IT catchphrase so all datacasing skills, such as SQL, are finding demand pick
up. The desire to use link data sets and use it to define customer behaviour is obvious in today’s market. SAP and Oracle
e-business technologies help businesses remain competitive; in current climate that competitiveness is key so investment
continues to be high throughout the IT sector.
IT Monitor is developed using market intelligence from major job boards, data from all brands within the Adecco Group UK &
Ireland, company websites, social networking sites, SalaryTrack, the market’s leading earnings information service and
mysalarychecker.com (www.mysalarychecker.com)
5410 CP V2
www.computerpeople.co.uk