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  The final general meeting of 2011 for REC Technology has a great line up, with four expert speakers. Make sure you reserve places for you and your colleagues now so you don’t miss out. Beginning at 9.30am on Tuesday 13th December, at the REC’s London offices at 15 Welbeck Street, this meeting is free for all REC Technology members.
The centrepiece of the event will be a discussion of the changing impact of social media on IT recruitment. Members will hear from two of the leading innovators in social media recruitment: Andy Headworth, founder of Sirona Consulting; and Bill Boorman, creator of The Recruitment Unconference.
Members will also hear an update on the current state of supply and demand in the IT jobs market from Peter Hounsome. Peter is a Labour Market Analyst for E-Skills, the official Sector Skills Council for IT.
Finally, members will be updated on the REC’s latest policy campaigns and legal issues by Tom Hadley, REC Director of Policy and Professional Services.
To reserve your places, simply click here and follow the instructions. If you have any difficulties booking, please feel free to contact Andrew Tomlinson.
Also, there are still a final few places available for the annual Christmas Lunch, which will follow the meeting. Thanks to kind sponsorship from Von Essen Consulting, a place at the lunch costs just £25 + VAT, which includes a three-course meal and two glasses of wine at the Marylebone Hotel
 A distinguished panel from the Technology sector were on hand today, 13 October to discuss a new Research Report commissioned by the REC Technology Sector group entitled Skills Shortages in the ICT Workplace. Adam Thilthorpe Director for Professionalism in IT for the British Computer Society, Carrie Hartnell, Associate Director from Intellect UK and Anjali Bhardwaj from Women in Technology joined Les Berridge and Jeff Brooks from REC Technology to discuss the finding and potential solutions. The paper highlights the key role recruiters can play in helping to bridge the skills shortages gap. This includes working more closely with schools, colleges and employers to paint a more positive picture of what working in a modern IT and technology environment now looks like. It also spells out a very real need to address the current skills shortage so that the necessary skills are in place to help the UK maintain its global competitiveness both in the short term and in the technology-driven markets of the future.
“While the demand for more advanced technology-based skills is not new, the recent economic crisis has increased the urgency of addressing the gap between available skills and what the market demands,” the report states.
The research paper puts forward a series of recommendations on how recruitment agencies, in tandem with schools, universities and employers can work together more closely to address the current shortage of young people either taking ICT-related courses and qualifications.
These include:
- Offering expert careers advice to students at events such as school open days, careers and graduate conventions to provide positive real life examples of what it is like to work in IT and to debunk some of myths surrounding working in this sector
- Provide in-house agency services to candidates which are based on expert knowledge of both local and national employment needs
- Share recruitment expertise with employers to build loyalty and develop the IT talent pipeline. This can include research into identifying the universities which are best for specific IT roles.
The report stresses that employers and their recruitment agencies both have a key role to play in addressing the issues which have led to the IT skills shortages.
Copies of the report are available by visiting www.rec.uk.com/about-recruitment/research
The General Meeting also had an update and discussion on the AWR from REC Solicitor, Lorraine Laryea, and a presentation on Recruitment Industry Benchmarking from Crawfurd Walker. The next Gerneral Meeting is planned for December 13th.
The REC Technology group has dominated the news agenda within the IT and Comms recruitment space with coverage in trade and recruitment press month on month along with national publications and significant broadcast “hits” throughout 2010.
In September, David Smith, Vice Chair of REC Technology, was interviewed on BBC News to provide comment on changes in the technology jobs market. This came off the back of major coverage throughout the year in national newspapers such as the Daily Mail and Evening Standard; and publications including Computer Weekly, v3.co.uk, HR Review and Government Technology.
The group, which saw membership grow to over 400 members this year, provided comment on issues including public sector cuts and the state of the jobs market. It also continued to lead the debate on the state of the sector with the quarterly publication of their Demand and Supply in the ICT sector report. A major thought piece was commissioned, Technology 2020, which looked at the changes in technology over the next ten years and its impact on recruiters and businesses.
Commenting on the news, Jeff Brooks, Chair of REC Technology said:
“It is incredibly important that IT recruiters have a voice they can rely on which reaches clients, candidates and government and one which will continuously express the added value that our industry contributes to the UK. This year has been particularly important following the change in government, public sector cuts, immigration changes and the upcoming review of IR35.
“REC Technology will continue to make sure that where IT and Comms recruitment is concerned we continue to lead the debate on issues, representing the interests of our members to those who matter.”
The demand for ICT staff continued to grow, increasing for another quarter according to the latest REC Technology Demand and Supply report, produced by e-skills UK.
Permanent vacancies were up by eight percent and for contractors 11 per cent compared to the previous quarter. Meanwhile the number of available applicants decreased with the ratio between demand and supply of labour now standing at 1.2 potential applicants per job.
The report also shows that advertised demand for ICT staff has now risen over four consecutive quarters and now stands at the highest level since Q4 2008, when demand started to slowly return to growth.
Commenting on the results, Jeff Brooks, Chair of REC Technology said:
“This report confirms our view that the IT sector remains healthy and demand continues to grow. In several skill areas, we will continue to experience shortage of supply and this will put pressure on pay and contract rates.
“Whilst public sector cuts provide uncertainty going forward, some of those reductions in demand have already been made by public bodies and I do not think they will change the demand landscape significantly. IT recruitment companies should see this report as a very positive state of affairs and we remain confident of the future direction of our sector and the IT industry.”
The full report is available for REC Technology members at www.rec.uk.com/technology
 David Smith, Vice Chair or REC Technology and MD of Interactive Selection, found himself live in front of BBC News anchors Simon McCoy and Carrie Gracie at 10.41 today for an interview about the games industry and the topic of start ups and jobs. For a full 3 minutes he fielded questions on the state of the games industry today, how it may fare providing new jobs moving forward and how the unemployed may want to find a job within computer games. He pointed out how the games industry had grown from nowhere to 30000 jobs in the last 20 years but this growth may not necessarilycontinue. He made it clear that the government needed to create the right fiscal environment for the sector to thrive and create new jobs. McCoy was familiar with the tax breaks awarded by the Canadian government and Smithcommented that the industry needed similar breaks if it was to compete with other countries on an even playing field. The result of no investment in the UK games infrastructure would be the UK slipping down the international league table of games production. Already 4th behind Canada, the UK was shortly to be overtaken by China to go into 5th place. On unemployed games professionals. Smith reassured the Gracie that almost all would quickly find jobs with other games companies. On the the subject of the UK unemployed, Smith encouraged everyone to look at the games industry as an option. “Everyone had to start somewhere.” Advice was also given on universities and training and the option of starting a career as a professional games tester. “It was fun to meet Simon and Gracie”, commented David Smith “and a great opportunity for viewers to learn more about the games industry.”
Paul Modley, Head of Recruitment for the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympics Games (LOCOG), is to address members of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) Technology sector group at their annual summer dinner on July 22nd.
Paul will speak to the group about the challenges of recruiting for a large project, such as London 2012, and will describe the workforce management and attraction difficulties LOCOG have to overcome both now and during the games.
LOCOG estimate that during the games up to 70,000 volunteers, 6,000 paid staff and over 100,000 contracted staff will be required to deliver a successful London 2012 Olympics.
Dave Pye, REC Technology Executive Member said:
“We are delighted Paul will be able to join us. London 2012 is a mammoth work programme and members will be able to benefit from hearing about challenges at this scale, and how they can be overcome.”
Members of the REC Technology sector group are invited to attend the dinner. For more information, visit the website, http://www.rec.uk.com/summerdinner
The REC Technology sector group has today confirmed Paul Fryer, Field Enablement Leader for IBM UK and Ireland will be its guest speaker at its upcoming summer dinner.
Paul will be the first guest speaker at the REC Technology Annual Summer Dinner, taking place this year at London’s Groucho Club on July 22, and will talk about the philosophy of Building a Smarter Planet for Life.
Paul joined IBM 25 years ago and started in the procurement department. He now works as part of the marketing team looking at how IBM can lead the discussion in building a smarter planet, which includes injecting intelligence into the interconnected systems we use on a daily basis.
Jeff Brooks, Chair of REC Technology said:
“Earlier this year, we published Technology 2020, which looks at where technology will be in ten years time and the implications it will have on consumers, businesses and recruiters.
“We are pleased that Paul Fryer will be speaking to members at our Summer Dinner as it will allow us to take the next step on this ten year journey and give members food for thought to take away with them for the future.”
Members of the REC Technology sector group are invited to attend the dinner. For more information, visit the website, http://www.rec.uk.com/summerdinner
Now that the government has declared it wants to review IR35, the REC are in the process of forming a view about the way forward and the Technology Sector group are very much affected by this because we represent more limited company contractors, employment businesses and clients than any other sector.
We are therefore inviting members to make their views known on any aspect of this issue but ideally focusing on what should replace IR35 and how we make it just, equitable, workable, accepted by the majority of freelancers and having no potential liability for our members. It’s a contentious issue and needs careful thought before we lobby the government.
 On 22nd July, the REC Technology Group will host our annual Summer Dinner at London’s exclusive Groucho Club.
This event will allow members to relax and socialise with colleagues from across the Technology recruitment sector.
The evening will start with our drinks reception in the Snooker Room from 6pm. Dinner will be served in the Gennaro Room with a special guest speaker from the world of Technology lined up to present.
Find out more on our website.
Pictures from last year’s dinner where we had Quentin Letts as our special after dinner speaker:
The demand and supply for ICT labour and skills has increased for another quarter according to the latest Technology Demand and Supply report, published today by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) Technology Sector Group.
Demand for ICT labour has increased by four per cent and for skills by ten per cent while supply of staff increased, the ratio between demand and supply now standing at 1.5 potential applications per job.
The report states that there are now 60,000 unemployed IT professionals and 68,000 employed jobseekers competing for 86,000 job vacancies. This however is not replicated across all skills with some areas being highlighted as difficult to recruit for including Systems Developers, Architects, .NET and SQL SVR.
Commenting on the results, Jeff Brooks, Chair of REC Technology said:
“These results show that the demand within the sector continues to grow and return to good health. At ground level, members say that things have improved markedly from the low points of late 2008 and early 2009. IT systems are clearly seen as tools that can help drive growth and help reduce cost across the enterprise and we expect to see this growth maintained.
“I would also re-iterate our message to the coalition Government that IT can help reduce costs within the public sector and continued investment in technology is vital if Government is to both improve services and reduce budgets.”
The full report will be available for members shortly.
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