There could be difficult times ahead for interim managers working in the IT sector with new figures suggesting technology recruitment in the public sector will suffer a sharp decline in 2010 as budgets are squeezed.
In its annual report on IT spending, the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm) says local authority expenditure on IT staff will decrease by 10% in 2010. What's more, the public sector IT cuts are inevitable regardless of who forms the next government.
However, technology recruiters have recently weathered the recessionary storm and have come out leaner and ready to face the next challenge according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation's (REC).
In its recent Report on Jobs, the REC pointed out continued growth in the Technology contract and permanent recruitment market.
Commenting on the news, Jeff Brooks, Chair of REC Technology said while many might expect budgets to be squeezed this year, IT is a major driver of productivity gain throughout the public sector.
The government needs to continue to develop critical infrastructure such as the Government Cloud for shared resources and plans for super fast broadband.
This will not happen on its own and it will need investment in skills and talent to deliver the systems needed in a global economy, continued Brooks who added he was optimistic that any new government will understand IT is a net contributor to UK Plc and continue to invest in this area.