There are jobs - but more competition - for tech candidates in the nation's capital.
While Washington, D.C., isn't immune to the economic slowdown, it doesn't seem to be feeling the pain as acutely as other cities. Talk to recruiters, and you get a range of pictures.
Erick Zohn, branch manager for Sapphire Technologies' D.C. metro office, describes the IT employment climate as weak to so-so: "The large mortgage lenders continue to lay off both full-time employees and contractors at an alarming rate," he says. "Government subcontractors both large and small are hiring in small doses, but we expect this sector to pick up as more projects are awarded by the federal government.“ He adds, “There's been a slight up tick in contract-to-hire positions with shorter contract durations."
However, Bill Blackford, senior recruiter for Manpower Professional's Capital Hub office, believes the D.C. IT job market isn't getting hit as hard as other areas, thanks to the federal government. "With the large amount of government work in this area there is still a demand for IT talent," he says. "I would say that the overall IT market in D.C. is strong. There aren't as many positions open as there were a few years ago, but our clients are still hiring. There are just more candidates to pull from, which means it's that much more competitive for job-seekers."
Other recruiters are also getting requests from clients to fill job openings. Barry Downs, a branch manager at Robert Half Technology in Washington D.C, says he still sees a healthy need for IT workers. The area added about 16,000 IT positions during the fourth quarter, he says. "And they expect to add as many as 16,000 during the course of this year."
At least 30 percent of Downs's clients are looking for virtualization expertise. He also sees big demand for help-desk support, with 50 to 60 of his clients looking for people for those jobs. Other skills he's looking for include Web 2.0 expertise and computer systems design, a broad term to describe anything from infrastructure to architecture.
The number of Dice job postings for Washington declined somewhat through 2008, from 6,315 in January to 5,977 in December. In January 2009, the number slipped a few notches, to 5,973. At the same time, average salaries for IT workers in have been steadily increasing, according to Dice's annual salary survey. In 2008, For instance, the average IT salary was $86,841, up 3.6 percent from 2007's $83,788. In 2005, it stood at $77,064.
According to the Robert Half Technology’ IT Hiring Index and Skills Report, about 10 percent of 200 area CIOs plan to increase the number of IT personnel this year in 2009, while 5 percent plan to cut back. At least 24 percent say help desk support is the single job area experiencing the most growth, while 18 percent listed networking and 10 percent cited database management.
Sapphire sees demand for security analysts, information assurance specialists, certification and accreditation specialists, and experts in security auditing and intrusion detection, says Zohn. "Anyone who has clearance and experience with securing data is in high demand," he observes. "Most of the cutting edge technology has been coming from some of our smaller commercial clients. With all of the proposed new federal initiatives, I anticipate some of the larger government subcontractors coming out with new and exciting products and services."
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