Leader: IT workers - don't get greedy

Contractors and IT staff could be forgiven for letting out just a little whoop of joy this week on hearing the latest job market statistics.

After the bleak and fallow years of the downturn it seems demand for skilled IT workers is once again outstripping supply, according to a host of IT staffing market surveys.

One even warns of that perennial chestnut - the UK IT skills crisis - as a result of companies taking the shackles off big IT projects they have been holding back on for the last couple of years.

This presents both good news and bad news. It's good news for the IT workers with the skills in demand, as they are in a stronger bargaining position when it comes to that annual salary negotiation or a new job search.

But before IT workers start working out what they'll do with all that extra money, IT bosses have issued a stark warning in our most recent CIO Jury. The world has changed since the wage spikes of the dot-com era and the economics of the situation are such that UK IT workers risk pricing themselves out of the market.

Here comes the bad news. If IT workers demand sky-high salaries, according to one CIO, firms will simply make greater use of outsourcing and offshore IT resources.

This week also saw some significant anomalies to the rose-tinted view of the IT job market promoted in the aforementioned reports. For instance, high-street bank Abbey announced 335 IT job losses as a result of the takeover by its new Spanish owner SCH. The bank also warned the review is ongoing and that more job cuts could follow.

If there is a skills shortage, it's worth sparing a thought for the IT bosses. The laws of supply and demand indicate that many IT bosses will have to fight to keep hold of their best staff.

That's not simply a case of slipping someone a few thousand extra pounds each year anymore either. Recruitment firms tell us the working environment, flexibility with hours and other 'soft' benefits are just as important to many job seekers.

In today's IT staffing market, if you have the right IT skills now is the time to make the most of the situation - but be sure to keep one eye on your cheap offshore competition.

Share your thoughts on the UK workforce by taking our seventh annual Skills Survey. Do so and you could win a half-case of champagne.