IT companies making greater use of contractors

13:25 4th June 2009

Contractors are getting more job opportunities as IT companies cut back on permanent staff numbers, according to ComputerWeekly.com.

More than 50 per cent of UK businesses have reduced their workforces and about 30 per cent have reduced the size of their IT department.

Over 15 per cent of businesses surveyed said they had issued redundancies within the last two to six months, but the statistics reveal that independent contractors with computer training could have more opportunities as companies prefer short-term commitments.

Paul Williams, IT governance advisor to Protiviti, a risk and business consultancy, told the website one reason he thought IT jobs are disappearing: "IT traditionally has not been good at articulating its value to key stakeholders within the enterprise."

Budgets for IT departments across the county have been reduced by an average of ten per cent in response to the recession, although some of the bigger organisations are orchestrating cuts twice this figure.

In related training news, the University of Stirling has reported that more consideration needs to be given to learning opportunities available to over-25s.