HotGigs 2007 IT Contract Workforce Report Reveals Top 20 IT Talent Areas

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Wednesday, March 21, 2007; 05:23 AM

Demand for contract workers with information technology skills is on the rise in the U.S. and Canada, with enterprise resource planning (ERP), Web development and project management skills leading the way, according to the HotGigs 2007 IT Contract Workforce Report, released today and available at (www.hotgigs.com/2007cwr). The report is a key measure of IT skills in highest demand in North America.

HotGigs Inc., an innovator in web-based staffing solutions, based its report on nearly 2 million searches for IT contract resources conducted on the HotGigs Staffing Exchange (www.hotgigs.com) during the fourth quarter of 2006. The report reveals employer demand for 20 key IT contract skills areas in top IT labor markets such as Austin, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Francisco and Tampa.

More than 10 percent of all searches focused on contractors' skills in ERP and packaged software systems. "This isn't surprising since most companies are making a strong push to implement and enhance the ERP systems that continue to run the lion's share of corporate business infrastructures," said HotGigs CEO and founder Doug Berg. SAP led the category, followed by searches for Oracle and Peoplesoft expertise. Contractors with solid experience in these skills currently charge bill rates in the mid-$100 per hour range, according to data from HotGigs Rate Exchange (rates.hotgigs.com).

Web development (193,270 searches) was the second highest demand area. "We believe the push to 'Web 2.0' is responsible for the growing demand," said Berg. "There was a high backlog of projects sidelined by infrastructure and budget concerns that are now moving into development phase." ASP.Net, Javascript, HTML and PHP skills showed the highest demand, with strong growth also for AJAX developers.

Demand for project management skills (177,818 searches) closely followed, with companies seeking project managers experienced at leading large- and medium-sized teams.

Other high-demand IT skills areas included data development, analysis and design, client server development, networking, IT management, systems administration, data administration, quality assurance and testing, PC and desktop development, help desk and support, architecture, certifications, mainframe development, telecommunications, industries and applications, security and midrange developers.

"The market for IT consultants at the end of Q4 2006 showed some momentum going into 2007, and preliminary analysis of Q1 2007 numbers shows a strong up tick in demand," said Berg. "Bottom line: IT skills continue to be an extremely strong area for consulting."