Looking for contract work? You may need to relocate

Life for an IT contract worker is tough: finish one job and you might have to move to another city to get your next one. But the good news is there seems to be an abundance of contract jobs despite signs that a worsening economy is limiting opportunities in the IT industry.

That, at least, is the conclusion reached in a review of jobs filled by IT recruiting firm Sapphire Technologies, which focuses almost exclusively on contract work.

”I was thinking this was going to be a tough year but it really hasn’t been,” says Mike Giglio, a Sapphire recruiting manager.

Jobs are still tough to come by in certain regions. Out of 18 cities tracked by Sapphire from January through April, the number of jobs decreased noticeably in four: Atlanta; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Philadelphia; and the Washington, D.C. metro area. Salaries remained steady in all regions except Philadelphia and D.C., the latter of which is seeing employers choosing less qualified candidates to save money.

D.C. workers also suffered because most jobs filled by Sapphire in that region are in the struggling mortgage industry. But the Pittsburgh and Houston regions are seeing an increased demand for jobs, according to Sapphire.

What’s especially useful about Sapphire’s data is the firm can show which job titles are the most sought-after in each region. Software development is the most in-demand job around the country, particularly in Austin, Texas, where 59% of jobs filled by Sapphire were in that category.

But software developers are far from being the most popular workers in some areas, illustrating vast differences in demand based on region.

In Chicago, 53% of jobs went to project managers and just 16% to software developers. Giglio attributed that to Chicago’s large financial companies looking for project managers. In Los Angeles, the hot job is desktop support, with 33% of positions being filled in this area. Large media comapnies hiring helpdesk workers contribute to this trend, Giglio says.

Despite the proliferation of technologies that make teleworking easier, relocating is still the norm for many IT contract workers.

”There are definitely areas of the country that use certain skills [more than others],” Giglio says. ”If somebody has a specialized skill, there might be two or three jobs in their city that utilize that skill. If they don’t get one of them, they have to relocate.”