After a very quiet August and then seeing a pick up in opportunities during September; we thought this was an ideal time to have a look at the marketplace with a view to which sectors are active and the rates on offer to the Project Management Professionals looking for a new opportunity.
As we all know there has been a stream of “bad news” this year with gloom and doom following the meltdown in the banking sector; the big freeze in the housing sector; pressures on the manufacturing sector and now the crashes in the holiday sector. Is it all bad news?
So, as a snapshot we looked at 100 current active jobs with “project manager” in the title being advertised across a section of common job boards including our own. The results make interesting reading when compared to the bad news that we are seeing every day about the UK marketplace and economy.
Whilst IT roles were the most common with 28% of the total, much to our surprise over 35% of the roles were in sectors that are suffering! In order there were 15% in Financial Services 12% in Construction and 10% in Engineering.
Just as surprising against the headline news of these 100 roles 78% were advertised as permanent jobs with just 22% as contractor opportunities.
Average Rates and salaries were still competitive against the market as a whole and in certain cases exceptional where specific skills were required;
- IT – £46K / £500/day
- Financial Services – £47K / £455/day (max £750 to £1,200 / day)
- Construction – £50K / £350/day
- Engineering – £41K / £300/day
Looking back to the thoughts of the respondents to the Arras People Survey 2008, the rates on offer for both the permies and the contractors follow the median of expectation from our respondents for the year 2008. The primary challenge for contractors, i.e. “lack of opportunity” may also be coming true?
However what this would appear to say is good news! The sectors that are finding it tough are not stopping to lick their wounds, waiting for things to get better. The market makers are investing in projects that will make a commercial difference, creating new products and services for the market to drive them forward and in doing that they all need Project Personnel to make it happen.
The results of the arras People Survey 2008 can be found on the Arras People website
This article was originally published in the October edition of the APM magazine – Project
