Today (Thursday), Liverpool Chamber hosted a breakfast event on current salary, benefit and recruitment trends in the IT sector. The main guest speaker was Ian Knowles from Hays recruitment agency.

The main points covered included:

• the North West has a lower than average skills gap in the IT industry (5% compared to a 10% national average)
• the public sector is a growing market for IT jobs
• desktop support, web development and management roles are growing areas
• the average IT worker is male, 36 years old, has worked in the sector for 11 years and has been in his current post for less than three years
• flexible working, good holiday allowances and performance related bonuses are the top key benefits looked for by potential staff
• however, employers main offers include childcare, company cars and gym memberships as benefits
• 70% of employees work above their contracted hours
• most leave their current jobs in search of fresh challenges or more interesting work
• 70% search for jobs online.

Steve Smith, Merseyside ICT Sector Director, was also on hand. He emphasised the important role recruitment agencies can play for smaller businesses when it comes to finding the right staff. He said they could draw on a wider catchment area and a long-term relationship with a recruiter brought greater benefits.

He also announced that as of next week, Skillworks will be offering to supply 60% of training costs to businesses to help them develop the skills of their existing staff.