Pay hike on the cards for contractors?

More than half of the UK's IT contractors expect a pay rise of at least 10 per cent in 2007, research reveals.

Of the 58 per cent expecting a no-less-than-double-digit rise in earnings, a third are aiming to gain at least a 15 per cent salary increase in the coming year, according to research from accountancy company JSA.

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Despite these expectations, nine per cent of contractors surveyed anticipate the IT contractor market will shrink in 2007 and half think the market will remain static.

A spokeswoman from technology staffing company Atsco, said a 10 per cent increase sounds reasonable following a nine per cent increase in contractor pay during the first three-quarters of 2006, from £35 to £38 per hour.

The survey also found more than 15 per cent of contractors have no knowledge of the popular programming languages C and JavaScript.

Skills shortages still exist in the IT market and contractors with sought-after skills will expect a pay rise in the coming year, the spokeswoman added.

Contract rates in IT were substantially higher than permanent pay rates in 2006, with a full-time software engineer earning £720 per week compared to £1,230 for a contractor, according to research from e-skills UK.