Public sector left behind as banks hoover up contractors

If you're a contractor, you're now more likely to be working in financial services than the public sector, new research has found.

The public sector, historically the biggest employer of temporary IT staff, has now ceded top spot to the financial service sector. The public sector now hires 20.5 per cent of all IT contractors - the same percentage as six months ago - while the percentage of IT temps in the financial sector has risen from 19.9 per cent six months ago to its current 21.2 per cent.

According to Matthew Brown, MD of contractor specialist giant, the upturn in the financial services industry has directly translated into more jobs for contractors.

The financial services bounceback has seen institutions investing in infrastructure - necessitated by compliance legislation such as Basel II - and dusting off tech projects that were shelved during the downturn, Brown said.

With public sector as the poor cousin to financial services in terms of wages, getting contractors on board could prove increasingly hard for the public sector, he added.

In general, wages are on the up in contracting, according to giant. This year, 70 per cent of contractors said their wages had risen, compared to last year, when 45 per cent said the same thing.

Only 6.7 per cent of contractors have seen their wages drop this year - a dramatic jump from 2003, when 28 per cent had seen their wages shrink.