IT recruiters are turning to headhunting candidates to overcome massive skills shortages.

The industry is booming, according to the quarterly IT skills survey by the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo).

Just 8% of IT staff are out of work, compared with 12% this time last year and 23% the previous year.

Permanent salaries have increased by as much as 3% per annum and contract rates remain stable at around £40 per hour.

“We have had to take proactive steps to find the really good candidates, who are in shorter supply than a few years ago,” said Volt Europe sales director Andrew Thomas.

“We’ve added headhunting and training to our recruitment techniques to find those really outstanding candidates.”

Roland Sheehan, customer relations director at Penta Consulting agrees. “[Headhunting] is something we have been doing for years. But it is definitely becoming harder and harder to find candidates – you can no longer rely on job boards.”