IT boom in Belfast
Belfast is emerging as a top centre of IT expertise, say recruiters.
"We've recently been asked to place staff for the financial services sector in Belfast, although we mostly source people for greater Dublin," says Fergal Keys, IT recruiter at The Panel.
Fujitsu, Lagal Technologies, Liberty Technology, Northbrook Technology NI and Wombat Financial Software - which announced 77 new jobs last month - have all recently set up in the area. Citigroup already runs a technology centre in the city.
"Northern Ireland is quickly becoming a very candidate-driven market with demand for experienced high calibre candidates far outweighing their availability, especially for people with .Net, J2EE and C++ skills. Experienced candidates can choose from multiple job offers," says Ailish McDermott, IT consultant with Brightwater recruiters in Belfast.
IT staff are becoming more valued by banks and financial services firms due to compliance requirements and their risk and IT design skills, says Keys. "Project and programme managers, developers and business analysts with Oracle and Java skills, for example, and implementation experience are especially in demand. The contract market is hotting up as well," he adds.
Graduates can expect to earn from 16k to 23k, quickly rising upon completion of a short probation period. Business analysts in the financial sector can expect to earn from 17k to 31k and beyond that at senior level.
Experienced software developers can expect to earn up to 35k with up to 10% bonus. Software development team leader salaries would range from 30k up to 38k plus bonus.
