Which of these two images do you think best represents the current job market?
Debbie Downer
If you are in the Debbie Downer camp, there are no shortage of downbeat headlines to focus on. Here are two examples:
Up With People
If you are in the Up With People camp, there are an increasing number of people surveys that reveal an upbeat trend in the technology marketplace. Here are two examples:
- Technisource Survey: IT Employee Confidence Index Up in Third Quarter of 2009
- Deloitte Survey: Despite Economy, Organizations Face Significant IT Talent Gap
This is my upbeat headline for November . . .
"Eight Technologies Lead Job Market Recovery"
The list of Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston has been updated and the complete list can be found in the right-hand column along with links to job postings that mention each technology.
Over the five-month period from early June to early November there has been an increase in job postings in all 20 of the Top 20 skills. (Only one of the Top 50 skills failed to post an increase!) The Top 20 technology skills that experienced at least a 50% increase in demand over this five-month period are as follows:
- ASP.NET | 69%
- SEO | 68%
- Web Services | 63%
- Ajax | 58%
- C# | 57%
- JavaScript | 53%
- HTML + CSS | 53%
- SQL Server | 51%
So, Web developers who can demonstrate expertise in Microsoft-centric technologies including ASP.NET, C# and SQL Server are in demand, even as unemployment rates continue to rise.
Fundamental Web design skills including HTML + CSS and Web programming skills including JavaScript and Ajax provide a foundation for creating user interfaces (UI) and improving user experiences (UX). The demand for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expertise demonstrates that organizations are continuously competing to position their content ahead of their competition's offerings.
These eight technologies are leading the job market recovery in the Boston metro area. Even as unemployment rises, companies continue to look for experts who can deliver technology-based solutions to increase revenue, decrease costs and improve productivity.
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