Overall, in the capital, "the permanent IT recruitment sector will be slower this year than in 2008, based on fewer positions available and a number of projects on hold".

When it comes to contracting, demand dropped markedly in the January to March quarter, due to employers offering contractors permanent roles.

"The first quarter also saw an oversupply of contractors available and fewer positions on offer.

"The start of the second quarter has seen demand return for IT contractors with shorter-term contracts on offer [and] a reduction in daily/hourly rates."

In contracting, there is still demand for skill sets such as .Net, Java, PHP, SAP and SQL.