IT unemployment hits five-year high

The economy may be showing its first green shoots but the IT industry doesn't seem to be showing any signs of perking up just yet.

Unemployment in the IT and telecoms industry has hit a five-year high, new research from industry skills body e-skills has found. In the first quarter of this year, the unemployment rate among ICT workers hit 4.8 per cent - its highest level since the first quarter of 2004.

IT strategy and planning workers were among those thought to be hardest hit, with a seven per cent quarter-on-quarter fall in employment rates.

ICT job advertisements declined significantly across the board in the first three months of this year, with situations vacant down by 27 per cent quarter-on-quarter for permanent workers and 32 per cent for contractors.

Despite growing unemployment, those currently in ICT work are apparently faring well, earning an average of £730 per week - up four per cent year-on-year and 40 per cent higher than the national average.

The majority of bonuses too are still surviving the recession, with around five per cent of staff picking up something extra in their pay packet in the first quarter of this year, down from six per cent in the corresponding period last year.

"It's still tough out there but overall ICT pros are still not doing so badly when you look at the big picture," the report noted.