Channel onlookers have claimed that the scarcity of vacancies and candidates’ diminished salary expectations make this an ideal time to recruit talented staff.

Research from IT jobs specialist CV Screen finds that London IT salaries fell by 2.3 per cent during 2008, with the average now being £37,707. London-based candidates registering for the site also rose by about a quarter last year.

Salaries also fell in the Midlands, the North West and North East, with only the South East and South West experiencing rises of 1.2 and four per cent respectively.
CV Screen director Matthew Iveson indicated that many technology professionals are having to reassess their salary expectations.

“Those who have been earning £30,000 might have to take £26,000 rather than be made redundant,” he said. “There are more good candidates on the market and companies looking to recruit can pick up some talent; it is a simple case of supply and demand.”

James Ward, managing director of storage distributor Hammer, claimed there was an abundance of available talent for both sales and technical roles.

“We are always looking and now is a good time,” he said. “People are seeing if the grass is greener elsewhere.”

Web site IT Jobs Watch reveals that, over the three months to 14 April, there were 78,806 advertised permanent IT positions, down from more than 200,000 last year. The average salary has also fallen 3.1 per cent to £42,038.

The web site finds that, during the same period, advertised contract jobs shrank year on year by more than half to 36,451. Average daily rates fell by almost seven per cent to £384.

Security distributor Wick Hill’s chairman, Ian Kilpatrick, said: “During boom times, some people have higher expectations than their skills deserve. When redundancies start being made, people get edgy and those who are most saleable look first. We have had a much higher calibre of applicant for technical roles than we expected.”