Offshoring hasn’t hit IT support roles

Despite offshoring fears, the number of new IT support roles is up by a fifth from two years ago, according to research from IT jobs firm ReThink Recruitment.

Such IT support work now makes up three in ten of all IT jobs advertised online, the firm said, but noted that the number of new IT jobs being advertised is down by 6.5 per cent from 2006.

Jon Butterfield, managing director of 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.”

Indeed, other commentators disagree. A study by ATSCo showed that pay for entry-level IT workers is falling. And recent research from the Higher Education Statistics Agency has suggested one in ten recent computer science graduates are unemployed.

The research also showed that the number of new senior level roles being advertised has fallen. IT management roles are down by 30 per cent since 2006, while the number of new software development positions are down by 18 per cent since then.

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.”

There are more new job openings for systems and network engineers, as well as consultants, the statistics showed.

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