Recent data shows the IT employment sector has continued to strengthen from the past quarter, with an increase in both contracting and permanent vacancies, indicating a strong improving market.

The latest Peoplebank ICT Salary & Employment Index shows contract roles rose by +7% and permanent vacancies were up by +39%  between the second quarter (April to June 2014) and the third quarter (July to September).

Contract roles have continued to dominate the IT hiring sector in the past quarter.  Within the tech sector, demand has been strongest for professionals with cloud and digital skills – interestingly, there have been some pockets of demand for infrastructure skills as organisations expand their overall capacity.  This has been the focus for both private and public sectors, with the strengthening jobs market led by NSW, VIC and the ACT.

The cut to full-time roles in the federal public service meant contractors were being utilised to complete projects in the ACT.

Overall demand is being driven by new projects in the banking sector, which is the traditional driver of ICT skills demand. The sector – especially in NSW – is hungriest for Project Managers (PMs) and Business Analysts (BAs) with payments, infrastructure projects and digital/mobile domain experience as well as for PMs with Agile skills.

NSW has had the strongest growth in demand, with incremental improvements in August – October building on the State’s strong May-July period, which saw 20% growth.