Economic recovery: optimism confirmed

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The 8th barometer by IMT’s Career Observatory confirms the renewed confidence of companies in an upturn in activity and, accordingly, an increase in recruitment. The survey, carried out on the occasion of the Telecommunications Forum that took place on February 11, revealed that Big Data, the internet of things and security would be the three industry skills most sought after by recruiters in 2016.

According to the study, 84% of companies surveyed announced prospects of growth in activity. This confidence will mean more ambitious recruitment projects this year than last year. According to the 2016 edition of the IMT barometer, 62% of companies predict a larger number of hires this year than the previous year (in 2015, only 46% anticipated this). The top fields that will be hiring are as follows: software publishers (86%), audit/consulting (85%), digital services companies, and engineering (67%). Last year, approximately one third of digital services companies presented decreasing recruitment forecasts: in 2016, this is no longer the case.

Telecom service providers do not fully share this optimism. Out of the five providers surveyed by IMT, two planned to reduce recruitment in 2016. And four out of five said they had no hiring plan.

Emerging specialties

The career that received the most demand from employers confirmed last year’s trends: taking all sectors into consideration, “Study and development of computer science and networks” (18% of demand) took first place, with  “Architecture and engineering” taking second place (17 %), and third place going to “Consultancy” (13%).
Yet the 2016 edition of the Barometer revealed the fast emergence of certain specialty areas which played marginal roles two or three years ago, and today are indispensable. The internet of things now represents 25% of employers’ demand in the telecom and electronic industry (8% of all sectors).

Big Data also confirmed its breakthrough, particularly in the area of Audit/consulting (13% of demand) and services (11%). Finally, security is an area of expertise that is increasingly popular, particularly for audit/consulting (14 %).

The overall optimism that can be seen among companies will have a positive effect on recruitment in digital technology careers. It remains to be seen if this will be a lasting trend. Join us for the next Telecommunications Forum in 2017 for confirmation.

Methodology

63 of the 85 companies present at the Telecommunications Forum in Paris-Porte de Versailles on February 11, 2016 replied to the questionnaire.

Sectors represented: Audit/consultancy (32%), software publisher (11%), digital services companies and engineering (14%), Telecom industry (6 %), service providers (8%), other industries (19%), non-digital company services (6%), others (3%).

 

A survey conducted since 2009

The Telecommunications Forum made it possible to meet students as well as around one hundred companies from a wide range of sectors (new technologies, bank, insurance, audit, consultancy, and automotive) that have recruitment needs for engineering graduates, both for employment or work placements.

Since 2009, the Career Observatory conducts a business tendency survey with the companies present in order to identify the tendencies for the current year.

Discover the 2016 survey on the IMT Career Observatory website