November 28, 2005
| Firms look abroad as IT shortage bites |
British companies are being forced to hire IT staff from abroad, largely India, as the skills shortage in the sector reaches crisis point
Huge demand for IT workers, particularly from the public sector, has seen the number of foreign IT professionals arriving in the UK on work permits grow tenfold over the past decade, figures from the Home Office reveal.
According to the data, the number of immigrant IT workers entering the UK rose from just 1,827 in 1995 to 22,000 in the past year. Numbers have almost doubled since 2002, after the dotcom fallout and recession in the IT industry saw salaries slashed and many UK-based staff look for work in other sectors.
The vast majority (85%) of IT workers coming from abroad are from India, the Home Office claims, with US in second place accounting for just 5%.
The reliance on foreign staff has not been welcomed by UK-based recruitment agencies, which fear UK workers being squeezed out of positions in the future. “Skills shortages continue to be a major pull factor in bringing foreign IT workers to the UK, but the concern is that some organisations may be taking advantage of the visa system to import cheap labour from abroad,” Ann Swain, chief executive of the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo) told the Financial Times.
ATSCo claims many of the workers coming to the UK are being recruited in India for far cheaper wages than are on offer over here and then sent over to Britain to work on client projects by their company.
But Jon Butterfield, director of ReThink Recruitment, believes the top jobs will still be open to UK graduates as most of the positions on offer are at the lower end of the trade. “If you are trying to fill a role managing an older legacy system, you couldn’t even get a UK trainee to do it,” he said. “It doesn’t meet the aspirations of UK IT professionals and 90% of people coming in are back-filling these lower-grade jobs.”
Many British firms including Xansa and LogicaCMG have recently opened offices in India, while Indian companies Wipro Technologies, Infosys and Tata Consulting Services have brought staff over to the UK.
“The UK, like other developing countries, is facing a skills shortage,” said Sunil Mehta, vice president of India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies. “If current economic rates are to be maintained, it must either import people or export the work to countries that have the talent.”
Posted by Mark at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
January 27, 2005
| Google gives job offers to the naughty |
Search supremo Google has been inviting UK internet users who tamper with their 'secure' products and programs to visit the company's HQ to try out for a job.
A series of candidates have been called to Mountain View in California, after they tried illegally to tweak Google products or hack the search site for company secrets.
The phenomenon, dubbed 'Google Hacking' is now so prevalent that stand-alone sites have been set up to display already exposed secrets, so hackers can't claim someone else's discovery as their own.
from ContractorUK
Jon Barker, from Woking in Surrey, was one of those who believed Google had done well with its Gmail product but thought improvements needed making.
He set about creating 'Pop Goes the Gmail' - a handy piece of software that enabled account holders to download their GMail messages via POP3.
After tens of thousands of downloads and some cash to show for it, Barker awaited the backlash from Google for his breaking of Gmail terms and conditions.
"The terms of service [for Gmail] forbid reverse engineering – which I had done," said Barker, speaking to the Independent Review.
He said he was then contacted by a Vice–President at Google, who congratulated him on his creation and asked if was interested in a job.
"I was expecting a lawsuit rather than congratulations," recalled Barker.
His Google experience is similar to other Gmail users, such as 22-year-old Mark Lyon, who made his way from Mississippi to California, after passing a rigorous phone interview.
He said his rogue creation of the 'Gmail Loader' - an application that allows other message formats to be loaded into GMail - afforded him interest from 37 different organisations, but none of them as interesting as Google.
Lyon said on attending Google HQ he was overwhelmed by a unique corporate culture that among many ingredients blends the informal with hard work.
"People were outside playing volleyball, and everyone I ran across, including those not interviewing me, was willing to stop and chat for a few minutes and tell me what they were up to. A few even asked my thoughts on their projects."
His comments reflect innovative corporate code at Google that dictates that all staff spend 20 per cent of their time devoted to their own personal project of their choice.
Like Barker, Lyon proved unsuccessful in passing his big day out even after confronting the all-day test of programming, maths and new ideas for Google.
One candidate said he struggled more with the theory-based questions of the test, like 'how many different ways can you colour an icosahedron with one of three colours on each face?'
For those fancying their chances, the site also runs 'Google Code Jam,' in which techies can use Java, C++, C# or VB.NET to battle Google engineers by cracking code and programming problems, for the first prize of $10,000.
The 50 finalists who qualify in set times also receive a visit to Googleplex, where the chance of "changing the world" through getting a job at Google is on offer.
Alternatively, those IT experts already cash-enabled and sure of their skill sets can forward their CVs to Google.
The search giant states it is interested in outstanding software developers, computer scientists and product managers, who should "consider sending resume and a brief cover letter" to greatpeople@google.com.
Posted by Mark at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2005
| IT jobs market still rising |
The CWJobs/SSL quarterly IT skills index reveals demand for permanent and contractor IT personnel increased by 23% and 14% respectively in Q4, bucking the seasonal trend that December is a typically slow month for recruitment.
This marks the fourth consecutive quarter that the total number of IT vacancies in the UK has risen, with an increase of 140% over the last 12 months.
Key regional findings:
- The West and Wales has seen the highest increase in permanent IT vacancies of 36% in Q4 but contractor positions have fallen by 6% - the only region to reveal a decrease
- The West Midlands is an attractive region for IT job seekers: permanent vacancies are up by 35.7% and contractor vacancies have risen by 44%
- The North West and East Midlands have experienced significant rises in the number of contractor vacancies, with 32% and 27% respectively.
Key IT skills trends:
- Office, SQL and Oracle remain the most sought after skills in the IT contractor market for the fourth consecutive quarter
- SQL, JAVA and Office were the most popular skills for permanent IT staff in Q4 2004
Key results by Industry:
- Demand for contract IT personnel has risen significantly in Manufacturing and Public Sector, with increases in the number of job vacancies of 54% and 49% respectively
- In Q4 2004, the industries looking for the most permanent IT employees were Media (36%) and Manufacturing (33%)
- Retail was the worst performing sector with only a 9% increase in permanent jobs and a decrease of 12% in contractor vacancies
- Between October and December 2004, the greatest increase in demand for IT contractors was in the West Midlands (44%).
- The North West and East Midlands also revealed significant growth in the number of contractor vacancies, with rises of 32% and 27% respectively.
Demand for IT contractors has slowed considerably in Outer London, from a massive 70% increase in Q3 to only a 5% rise in Q4. Over the last 12 months the number of IT contractor vacancies rose by 149%, compared to a moderate increase of 18% in 2003, with the North East revealing the most impressive increase of 205%.
From an industry perspective, Manufacturing experienced the greatest percentage increase in the number of IT vacancies in Q4, with rises of 35% permanent and 54% contractor positions. Other top performing sectors were Public Sector with 49% more contractor vacancies and Media with a 35% rise in the number of permanent jobs. Although finance was the top performing sector in Q3 2004 with 53% permanent and 79% contractor increases, the sector experienced only a 20% rise in permanent IT jobs and a decrease of 2% in IT contractor roles on offer in Q4.
Commenting on the latest findings, Richard Nott, Sales Director at CWJobs said:
“It’s extremely encouraging to see that the total number of IT job vacancies in the UK increased by 140% in the last 12 months and the signs are that the IT jobs market will continue to grow in the first half of 2005. Issues such as security, corporate governance and compliance remain high on IT directors’ agendas and the start of a new year induces many people in the UK to look for a new job so we expect to see some exceptional growth in the IT jobs market in Q1 2005.”
Posted by Mark at 08:23 PM | Comments (0)