06 May 2017

Job vacancies for IT professionals rose by 12 per cent during the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same time last year, according to Robert Walters.

In its latest jobs index, the specialist recruitment consultancy says the UK IT sector has largely resisted the slowdown in hiring seen by other sectors during political and economic uncertainty last year.

Robert Walters says demand from ‘fintech’ (financial technology) startups as well as large established companies investing heavily in cyber security played a significant role in the increase.

Developers and software engineers were particularly popular, and represented 14 per cent of total demand. Vacancies for IT managers made up four per cent of the total number of roles.

The index also reveals that employers are increasingly recognising the importance of IT staff who can play a critical role in ensuring IT policy is integrated with other departments across the business.

Ahsan Iqbal, associate director at Robert Walters, says: “IT professionals with strong technical proficiency are highly sought after by firms across a range of industries, but IT managers with effective communication and stakeholder management skills are in particularly high demand.”

According to Iqbal, as effective cyber security policies are an increasingly high priority, the ability for IT teams to liaise with other areas of the business to develop effective strategies is becoming more crucial.