Increase in IT support jobs despite offshoring trend

The number of IT support jobs being created is almost 20 per cent higher than two years ago, despite fears that offshoring would further erode demand for entry-level IT positions in the UK, according to research by ReThink Recruitment, the IT staffing company.

The research found that support roles now comprise 30 per cent of all IT jobs advertised on job boards, compared to 24 per cent in 2006.

According to ReThink Recruitment, the economics of offshoring have become less compelling as wage inflation in India has eaten into the cost savings, which has boosted creation of IT support jobs in the UK.

Jon Butterfield, Managing Director, ReThink Recruitment, said: "The effect of offshoring IT jobs has been double edged. Pay rates have been pegged back, but job creation at the entry level has not dried up as was mooted by some commentators.

"Offshoring has made organisations' IT functions more efficient, which has freed up budgets for investment elsewhere. These new projects require support teams, and it's not always appropriate or advantageous to base these staff offshore.

"There is some debate as to whether offshoring has peaked. Wage inflation, and the cost of co-ordinating teams across international time zones, is starting to unravel the economic case for outsourcing. Organisations may not be repatriating jobs en masse, but when new jobs are created, the UK is becoming a viable location once again."

Senior level

The research also suggests that for some senior level roles the number of jobs advertised has either declined or remained static over the last two years.

The number of jobs advertised for management roles in IT has declined by 30 per cent since 2006, whilst the number of new software development roles has fallen by 18 per cent over the same period.

Jon Butterfield said: "We are talking about fewer new jobs here, not mass redundancies, so there is no sense of a return to the post-dot com market when huge numbers of contractors were laid off. But where there is a less clear-cut business case some IT projects are being put on the back burner and that is leading to a softening in demand for some management and software development roles."