"This has translated into shorter salary bandings and lengthy, more targeted permanent recruitment processes."

Unlike in Auckland, the Wellington IT recruitment scene is dominated by requirements for contractors, says Robert Walters Wellington IT division manager Jonathan Hay.

"In Wellington, 80 percent of our work is with the public sector and there is demand for efficiencies driven from capital expenditure, which requires fixed-term hourly rates assisting with ICT inputs and efficiency."

The second quarter of 2011 saw a 40 percent increase in the number of IT roles available in Wellington compared to the same quarter last year, Hay says; but that figure is coming off a low base in 2010, which was still quiet in the second quarter, he says.

"A 40 percent increase might sound like we're really busy, but it's not like 2006-07," he says.