IT vacancies increased by more than a quarter between January and March, according to the latest statistics from the CWJobs/SSL quarterly IT skills survey.

Highest growth was seen on the public sector, which has seen a 37% increase in permanent IT vacancies with contract vacancies growing by 25%.

The most popular skills for permanent public sector IT staff between January and March 2004 were SQL, Oracle and Microsoft Office.

Average salaries for developers with these skills during the quarter were £44,000 for SQL, £48,000 for Oracle and £37,000 for Microsoft Office.

Richard Nott, Sales Director at CWJobs said that investment was at the heart of this dramatic increase in public sector recruitment.

“IT professionals looking for work in the public sector are benefiting from the huge investment in eGovernment initiatives happening currently with the 2005 deadline looming," he said.

"We would expect to see the demand for permanent and contract IT staff remain strong for the rest of the year, not only in the public sector but throughout other UK industries as well.”