08/08/2008 by swordfish.

The IT jobs market is resisting the pressures of the looming recession, with employment opportunities remaining stable, figures from a recruitment firm suggest.

The number of IT-testing roles increased by 8.3 percent in the year’s second quarter and developer positions also increased slightly, according to recruitment company The IT Job Board.

Jobs in support and programming also remained stable, with only development and management roles seeing a small decline over the year, although the recruiter said senior roles will rise again in the autumn.

Source: ‘ZDNet‘

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30/06/2008 by swordfish.

The UK’s IT sector is forecast to survive the worst effects of the current economic turbulence, with the number of business failing remaining constant over the next year.

Business advisors BDO Stoy Hayward predict that 1,414 companies in the technology, media and telecoms sectors will close during 2008. In 2009 this figure will rise by less than one per cent to 1,428, and in 2010 the total will fall to 1,356.

BDO Stoy Hayward revealed the figures as it announced a two year deal with The Tech Track 100 the annual report into privately-owned technology companies, published by The Sunday Times and research firm Fast Track.

Source: Yahoo Technology News

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20/06/2008 by swordfish.

The games industry says British universities are failing to equip graduates with the skills it needs.

The warning comes from the industry campaign group “Games Up?”, which says games developers in Britain are facing a serious skills shortage.

The lobby group says there are now 81 video games degree courses at British universities. But only four are accredited by Skillset, the government body which monitors such courses.

David Braben, chairman of Frontier Developments and a spokesman for “Games Up?”, said: “95% of video gaming degrees are simply not fit for purpose. Without some sort of common standard, like Skillset accreditation, these degrees are a waste of time for all concerned.”

The warning came as executives from across Europe’s games industry gathered for the GameHorizon conference in Gateshead. The North East of England is one of the centres of a games industry whose activities are spread widely across the UK.

Source: BBC Tech News

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21/05/2008 by swordfish.

According to research from Hornbill Systems and the Service Desk Institute, more IT workers start their career working on the helpdesk, early employment that stands them in good stead for the rest of their working lives.

The two groups jointly commissioned research and found out that many employers are now using psychometric testing to identify which workers were likely to thrive in a corporate environment, before placing them in support positions.

Further, more emphasis is being placed on the social skills of candidates, meaning that employers expect more personal skills from their staff.

In a whitepaper released today they also point to other practices, currently being used to woo and retain good staff. More than fifty seven percent of the firms that responded to a survey said that they were building rewards into their employees contracts, and had already found that staff were staying longer in their positions, and were happy to remain employed at the company for longer.

Source: Yahoo UK & Ireland News

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