IT contractor skills shortages eased in June 2019

The scale of skills shortages in the IT contractor market reduced in June 2019, with nine types of temporary techie proving elusive as opposed to 11 previously.

It means that while the May shortage of freelancers skilled in Cloud Engineering, CNC, Data Analysis and Java has cleared, certain shortages – like Development – have grown stubborn.

Similarly, CAD, Digital, Gaming, IT (General) and Technology are all still sought-after for contracts, according to member companies of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation.

And while Oracle Fusion contractors are no longer on the ‘scarce’ list, the staffing companies are now searching for ‘Oracle Specialists,’ shows the confederation’s June Report on Jobs.

The same specialists are also in short supply for full-time vacancies, as are Analysts, Data Professionals, Developers, PHP Developers, Software Engineers and Cyber Professionals.

Ten additional skills are in deficit for permanent IT vacancies, almost half of which are scarce in the contract market too, notably Digital, Gaming, IT (General) and Technology.

Overall, it means the scale of the shortage in the full-time IT labour market mirrored that of the contractor market in June, as it also reduced -- to 16 specialisms down from 20 in May.

However a new report by Studio Graphene says that hiring the “right talent” is the biggest challenge facing UK technology start-ups, with 54% identifying it as their obstacle to growth.