Sector scythed by public sector IT cuts. Share of new IT jobs plummets to just 1 in 20 as austerity programme hits IT budgets.

Just five percent of new IT jobs are in the public sector in the UK, according to research from ReThink Recruitment, the business and technology staffing firm. The research, based on analysis of over 3,500 jobs in May and June 2012, shows that IT recruitment in the public sector has not recovered from the dramatic post-election slump that it endured last year.

ReThink says that at the start of 2010, before the last general election, approximately 30 percent of new IT roles were in the public sector. Michael Bennett, Director at ReThink Recruitment, comments: “The Government’s austerity programme has had a devastating effect on the public sector’s recruitment of IT contractors. Whilst the hiring of IT staff in the private sector is beginning to recover, this is definitely not the case in the public sector. Just a tiny proportion of new jobs are now in public sector roles.” According to ONS data (June 2012) 20 percent of UK workers in total are employed within the public sector. Says Michael Bennett: “Before the Coalition Government started implementing its austerity regime, the public sector had been making much more use of IT staff. Withdrawing major Government IT projects, coupled with recruitment freezes in many government departments, has completely reversed this trend.”

“While the public sector demand should bounce back once longer term projects are revived, we are not expecting demand to return to the lofty heights of 2009- 10 for quite some time. For now IT contractors will have to focus on the private sector for new jobs.”

“The squeeze is still on as the austerity programme has no immediate end in sight. We may see weak employment in the public sector for some time to come.” “The irony is that sensible investment in IT could see the public sector cut substantially into its cost base.” Major Government projects involving the heavy use of IT contractors that have been cancelled as a result of the deficit reduction programme include: The NHS national electronic database; Second generation biometric passports; The ID cards programme; Contact Point (a child protection database)

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Michael Bennett adds: “The private sector sees IT as a really effective way of improving productivity- which is why demand hasn’t fallen substantially in the private sector. With such low levels of IT investment in the public sector there seems little alternative but to switch.” “Many public sector IT workers are finding that their skills are in demand in the private sector. They also often find that they prefer the working environment in the private sector, where successful delivery of a project is often accompanied by a boost to their remuneration.”