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CNC Global recently released their “Year 2006 in Review: IT Staffing Requirements in the Canadian Market” which is a compilation of national and regional statistics, including year-end numbers that confirms the demand for IT professionals is up 14% across the country over 2005. The strong hiring trend began over 24 months ago and reached its peak this year as 2006 represents the strongest year in CNC Global’s 25-year history, even surpassing the run up to Y2K.

The “Year 2006 in Review: IT Staffing Requirements in the Canadian Market” identifies key hiring trends among Canada’s blue chip companies and Small-Medium Sized Enterprises. It includes an analysis of hiring and demand patterns, hiring requirements, job offers per candidate, salary and rate fluctuations, as well as IT positions most in demand.

Highlights from CNC Global’s Year 2006 in Review: IT Staffing Requirements in the Canadian Market:

National:
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- Demand for permanent staff has increased 30% over the past year and
now represents almost 50% of all customer requirements.

- Typically, this kind of growth would come at the expense of the demand
for contractors, but during the past 12 months, the demand for
contract consultants has jumped almost 7%.

- However, regional growth rates have surpassed the GTA over the past
year, especially in the West, where talent searches are expanding to
national and even international networks.

- This steady demand across the country continues to put pressure on the
talent supply and technology workers are active. CNC Global’s popular
web site receives over 115,000 visits each quarter from job seekers.
Approximately 10,000 complete registrations and over 45,000 submit job
applications. These figures are up approximately 10-20% over the last
12 months.

- What positions are most in demand? Across the country infrastructure
remains a key driver and demand from related positions is up,
especially the demand for senior architects and analysts, which
climbed 139% over the past year.

- The hottest positions are now web developers, who account for 25% of
all requirements. This extends the trend that began mid-year as
companies continue to increase their focus on front-end, development
work.

- Top technical skills on a national basis are in line with this shift
and include: Java, SQL, J2EE and Oracle, as well as ASP, .net, VB and
C-Sharp. In addition, with steady requirements in the
telecommunications sector, skills in VOIP and SMS switching are also
prominent.

- But, management-related capabilities and business acumen continue to
account for 3 of the top 5 most-requested skills. This reflects the
changing role of IT in many organizations, as IT workers are asked to
play a more strategic role in organizational management and business
development.

- Hard to find skill sets include: senior-level web developers, senior
project managers, business analysts and quality assurance specialists,
especially those with industry-specific experience.

- In addition, there has been a steady increase in the demand for
bilingual helpdesk skills across the country. This demand has become
difficult to fill given the small talent pool and the fact that it is
disproportionately represented in certain geographies.

- Other difficult-to-find skill sets include: ERP/SAP-related skills,
which are becoming increasingly rare and mainframe programmers,
especially for full-time positions.

- With increased demand for highly qualified talent, there has been a
noticeable migration back to contract work, especially among senior
project managers, business analysts and quality assurance experts.

- Currently, over 50% of IT professionals who interview with customers
are successfully placed. This number reached 62% in the third quarter
and remains well above the average of 40% for 2005.

- This increased demand is encouraging organizations to streamline their
hiring processes. Today, the average interview-to-hire ratio for full-
time positions is 4.5:1 (2:1 in some areas such as the GTA). This is
down from 11:1 just 12 months ago, as more organizations streamline
their hiring processes.

Regional Markets:
—————–

- Calgary showed the strongest growth rate during the past 12 months,
with overall position requirements increasing 51%. During the same
period, full-time requirements spiked 82%.

- Vancouver posted the fastest growth in full-time positions, with
customer requirements up over 130%.

- In Edmonton, activities in the public and private sectors pushed
demand for full-time hires up 48% over last year.

- Montreal continues to see increased demand in the financial services
sector and among Quebec-based systems integrators, which bumped full
time position requirements up 25%.

- Halifax has also seen steady growth, jumping 10% for the year and more
than 15% when compared with the previous quarter.

- The GTA remains the single largest market for IT professionals in
Canada, accounting for more than 50% of all position requirements.

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Categories: Technology News