So, do we think Jan and Feb will be buoyant months for new contracts?

[PropertyCrashUK]

I was quite surprised by the amount of contracts in the 6 weeks leading up to Christmas - seems to be a lot of key people being sourced for some big projects.

Will this carry over into 2011 and will we see demand for IT bods increase in the coming New Year months?

What do people here think?

[BolshieBastard]

I was quite surprised by the amount of contracts in the 6 weeks leading up to Christmas - seems to be a lot of key people being sourced for some big projects.

Will this carry over into 2011 and will we see demand for IT bods increase in the coming New Year months?

What do people here think?

Things is, you've no way of knowing whether these calls are about roles that exist and are not just agents trawling.

Some agents have cottoned on to the fact we know they go trawling so they make it sound like the job is real.

When I was out at the beginning of the year I got loads of calls about jobs but so too were other people I keep in touch with. No jobs materialised.

[Fred Bloggs]

I'm not in IT (in process engineering) but I too was very surprised at the number of roles that came up in the three weeks leading up to Christmas this year, more than I have ever known before. I actually get very few cold calls from agents I do not know and I tend not to take a lot of notice of them due to the fishing that goes on. However, this December the calls were mostly from agencies I have worked with before and have good realtionships with, I have no doubt that the jobs are real. I hope 2011 sees and en to the truly dire previous 18 to 24 months, I think it just might.

[filthy1980]

yeah i've been surprised by the market running upto xmas myself not looking yet but a mate who has a very similar skill set had a few interviews in December and landed a contract for jan, so on the face of it there appears to be work out there

[nomadd]

I was quite surprised by the amount of contracts in the 6 weeks leading up to Christmas - seems to be a lot of key people being sourced for some big projects.

Will this carry over into 2011 and will we see demand for IT bods increase in the coming New Year months?

What do people here think?

My personal view is it will be OK, but not spectacular for the first 6 months of 2011. What happens after that, though, is the kicker. Could go either way.

[BolshieBastard]

I'm not in IT (in process engineering) but I too was very surprised at the number of roles that came up in the three weeks leading up to Christmas this year, more than I have ever known before. I actually get very few cold calls from agents I do not know and I tend not to take a lot of notice of them due to the fishing that goes on. However, this December the calls were mostly from agencies I have worked with before and have good realtionships with, I have no doubt that the jobs are real. I hope 2011 sees and en to the truly dire previous 18 to 24 months, I think it just might.

Well I have a mate who is never out of work long (by choice. he'll literally travel anywhere!) and he got finished from a public sector contract well before Christmas. Says he had lots of calls but nothing coming from them. He thinks they are merely disguised trawls.

Im inclined to agree with him but that just my opinion.

[PropertyCrashUK]

Most firms are not back until next week - same for most IT agencies.

It wil ltake a couple of weeks for firms to have their meetings, get the go ahead, etc, etc, so I doubt we will see signs of an upturn until the middle to end of January but end of Nov and early Dec seemed very buoyant in the job ads on the job sites - I take your point about agents trawling but when several sharks are advertising the same roles then it is hard to put them down as some kind of collective trawling.

Time will tell but several studies - like the CEBR report on the main page - seem to be pointing towards an upturn in IT work.

Lets hope it is a good year for us all in 2011.

[ascender]

I can't remember the last time there were so many PM positions advertised in the lead-up to Christmas as there have been this year. Many are with banks and many are real positions as myself and others I know have moved recently in to new contracts over the last 3 or 4 weeks. While banks are still reducing permanent headcount as part of their continued drive to "streamline" to keep their owners happy, there's a lot of work to be done with integrations, mergers, break-ups etc which could go on for some time yet.

[BobTheCoder]

I've just taken a new contract and the place I'm going is still desperate for more good people across the board. I also know of a couple of other places that are very likely hiring in early Jan so I reckon it could be looking quite good.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

I've just taken a new contract and the place I'm going is still desperate for more good people across the board. I also know of a couple of other places that are very likely hiring in early Jan so I reckon it could be looking quite good.

Please tell me these are North West Roles....