Survey puts almost a third of UK IT contractors 'on the bench'

Twenty-nine per cent of IT contractors whose contracts finished in the last quarter are currently in-between contracts according to a survey conducted by IT agency, Plexian.

The agency puts the normal figure of contractors 'on the bench' at eight per cent. It says the difference in figures illustrates the effect of redundancies on the IT sector over the last twelve months.

The survey found that 21 per cent of IT contractors whose contracts ended in the last quarter have taken up new permanent positions. Half of those IT contractors whose contracts ended in the last quarter have commenced new temporary contracts.

It also found that 33 per cent of contractors were willing to consider working in Europe.

Plexian warned that IT redundancies as a whole could still increase with a further round of City-related redundancies ahead of the Christmas bonus period but that this was more likely to be focused on permanent staff.

Roy O'Brien, Director at Plexian, said: "Contract workers in the IT sector were always going to bear most of the pain of headcount reductions, but even so this figure shows how deep the cuts have been. IT contractors had been aware that the job market was set to take a big dip and most have budgeted with this in mind. They are relatively sanguine about the situation with a few contractors even deciding to take a sabbatical or extended holiday.

"Barring any big new shocks to the economy we feel that we are very near the low point in contractor employment. We are not expecting a sudden rebound but there is a feeling in the market that we are through the worst of it. New capital investment in IT had already come to a halt before September 11, lower interest rates since then have helped and public sector IT spending is budgeted to increase."