Nearly one in ten employers feels that the skills of their ICT staff do not meet the needs of the business, according to research by e-skills.

The Sector Skills Council for IT and Telecoms also stated that 13% of IT users did not have the necessary skills.

Looking at Q4 for 2004, it found increased demand for ICT staff with the call for permanent staff up 123% on the previous year. This was reflected in the unemployment rate for ICT staff, which fell to 2%, for those normally employed in the ICT industries rates fell to 3.5% (UK average of 4.8%).

When it comes to specific skills, demand for Linux, Lotus Products, Novell, VOIP Sybase and Office experience had increased for six or more quarters in a row.

However, despite demand, employers appeared to have little difficulty sourcing the staff they needed as under 2% reported ICT related recruitment difficulties and advertised salaries were down on the previous quarter.

The average advertised rate for permanent staff fell to £36,300 pa compared to an equivalent rate for contractors of £58,900pa.

Find out more at www.e-skills.com/bulletin.