e-skills latest report on market
e-skills UK has published the latest issue of the e-skills Bulletin, a quarterly review which presents the latest statistics on the state of the information and communications technology (ICT) labour market - with a more upbeat domestic message than recent reports although it also indicates a long-term trend towards outsourcing.
This issue contains a number of new data sets and for the first time includes share indices from FTSE (The Independent Global Index Company), trade and Jobcentre vacancy statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), market confidence data from the Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA), and rates data from Jobstats.
Key data presented shows:
- Business/labour market statistics suggest an overall improvement in the market;
- A definite improvement in the market for ICT shares and a stable, if not declining incidence of company closures;
- ICT exports are up and private sector investment remains stable;
- In the UK, demand is consistent for ICT staff beyond the industry itself;
- Demand for technical skill sets, particularly .NET and C#, is taking off;
- A number of analyst firms suggest IT spending is set to rise in 2004: AMR Research - by two per cent; Ovum - by two to three per cent; Gartner - expects figures to return to normal after a period of underspend;
- Areas where ICT spend will be focused are likely to surround enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, mobile working, security and supply chain management
- Long-term industry trends point to multi-sourcing, offshore outsourcing, business process outsourcing, and security.
ICT labour market data is collected from Government and private sources. Data featured within the Bulletin includes ICT share/market changes, company liquidations and employment effects, IT spending, employment change by industry/occupation, pay rate data, emerging skills trends, education/training activity and future recruitment activity within the ICT sector.
e-skills also provides statistics as to the state of the market through the Government's Work Permits Skill Shortage Panel.