Via http://www.computerweekly.com

The employment of IT professionals will grow twice as fast as the average across sectors up to 2020 with 129,000 new recruits needed every year to meet demand for IT and telecoms workers.

Research from e-Skills UK found that last year there were over 116,000 jobs advertised every quarter compared to 82,000 every quarter in 2009.

The latest Technology Insights research report from e-Skills revealed that the highest levels of employment growth are in areas such as software professionals, IT managers, and IT strategy and planning professionals.

Development, design and support roles are those most advertised, and the most common technical skills requirements are SQL, C, C#, .Net and Java, according to the findings.

“Technology Insights 2012 shows how important IT and telecoms is to the competitiveness and economic growth of the UK,” said Karen Price, CEO of e-Skills UK.

“With IT employment set to grow at such a pace, it is vital that we continue to invest in the skills of those working in technology, and create new routes for young people to enter exciting and challenging careers in the industry.”

Skills in the web, mobile and social networking sectors continue to be in demand despite the economic slowdown in recent years. Figures from a European Commission report expect the UK will have a shortage of 100,000 people to fill IT jobs in the next few years. In Europe, including the UK, the skills shortage is expected to reach 700,000.

Recruitment company JM Group recently said IT contractors with digital skills can earn £500 per day as the expected shortage of IT professionals with the right digital skills begins to unfold and demand continues to increase.

Related Topics: IT jobs and recruitment, IT technical skills, IT education and training, VIEW ALL TOPICS