A lack of specialist skills in the IT sector is moving jobs abroad, research shows.

Although IT professionals with business expertise are highly sought after, the need for basic skills is declining, according to a survey from analysts SSL and magazine Computer Weekly.

Growth in demand for senior IT staff has fallen for the first time in two years.

Philip Virgo, strategic adviser at the Institute for the Management of Information Systems, said: “Except for those who have got skills that are in short supply, such as project management, business understanding and multimedia skills, we will see a permanent shrinking in demand. If it can be moved offshore, it is.”

Advertised salaries have decreased in over half of the job classes monitored by SSL over a six month period. The number of vacancies advertised online also fell by 6% during the second half of 2005, the first drop since 2003.

Early this year, TrainingZONE reported on claims that almost half of new IT graduates believe that their degree course has failed to provide them with relevant skills. The research found that 41% felt that in hindsight, they would have skipped university and gone straight into work.