Spending cuts: Private sector a safe haven for IT pros?

IT worker

ANALYSIS On the face of it, public sector IT workers may be in a little bit of trouble due to the Government cuts announced by George Osborne today.

With around 490,000 public sector workers expected to lose their jobs in the next four years, it is believed 6,125 IT professionals from this crowd could be made redundant every year.

However, as one recruiting professional has suggested, a flourishing private sector could support IT and telecoms workers leaving public positions.

A safety net?

If the growth experienced in the first three quarters of this year continues, then there will be 7,500 openings in the private sector for IT professionals to fill in the fourth quarter of 2010 alone, according to Paul Winchester, managing director of IT and telecoms recruiter Greythorn.

In the third quarter, Greythorn saw a 12 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of roles on its books.

"The private sector should be more than capable of finding jobs to replace those lost in the public sector and the redeployment of people to more productive activities will improve economic performance, and in turn generate more employment opportunities," Winchester claimed.

"The private sector job market is in rude health and the industry is big enough to take care of itself."

Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.