In the US this week, Google acknowledged plans to "significantly" reduce the number of contractors it uses, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
In Australia however, Peoplebank’s Acheson said contractors will continue to play a critical role in IT and have an important part to play in both implementing new IT projects and supporting ongoing operations.
“IT is one of the sectors with the largest contracting workforce and I don’t think that’s going to change,” Acheson said. “I think IT contracting over time will continue to be a substantial proportion of the future of IT going forward.”
While Acheson acknowledged that there’s a natural predisposition for companies to consider contractors during periods of economic uncertainty, due to their greater flexibility over permanent employees, he urged CIOs to boost their employees confidence to avoid them fleeing the nest.
“I think in the current environment it’s really important that CIO’s are talking to their staff about the outlook and where they see the business going in 2009 — and what the key projects and initiatives are that the company they work for is going to be investing in — to shore-up people so they feel comfortable and confident about their futures.”
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