The IT job market will continue to improve as it has in the past six months, according to recruitment specialist Randstad. Malcolm Dunford, Operations Director of Randstad’s IT division says the new year will prove positive for the job market.“With the steady increase we’ve seen in the past six months and the positive outlook for the first quarter of 2010, it looks like the worst may be over for IT professionals. “Jobs for contract workers, in particular, will gradually increase as companies look to ease the labour pressures being felt this year but the demand isn’t quite as high as our Australian neighbours. “In Australia we’ve seen a 25% increase in IT contract roles this year but New Zealand may take a little longer to bounce back,” he says.Many companies will begin projects in the new financial year and therefore need to prepare for these as early as the first quarter of next year.Most of this activity will be upgrades or transformations, which were held off until the market improved.IT professionals looking at working in the banking and financial services sector can expect to see more opportunities in this space. “Although banking and finance was the first industry to feel the effects of the downturn, they are also the first to show signs of recovery with IT jobs in this area growing steadily – across fund managers, insurers and smaller investment houses as well as major banking institutions.“Opportunities at an executive level have also been opening up significantly in the past nine months with many senior appointments in areassuchas Strategy &Architecture, Project&Program Management and of course, CIOs.”
