Press releaseWednesday 01 August 2007

OLYMPICS DEMAND FUELS RISE IN IT CONTRACTORS IN ENGINEERING
(Issued by Mattison Public Relations)

  • IT contractors in engineering nearly double in 12 months

The proportion of all IT contractors who work in the engineering sector has almost doubled in just 12 months, as preparations for the 2012 Olympics accelerate, reveals research from giant group plc, the contractor services provider.

According to the survey of over 1,500 IT contractors, 10.2% now work in the engineering and construction sector, compared to 6.3% a year ago.

The design of the Olympic facilities and infrastructure is currently underway, which is requiring significant numbers of software engineers skilled in advanced computerised modelling to assist with structural analysis before construction can commence.

Matthew Brown, Managing Director, giant group plc, comments: "Programming skills are required during the design phase of Olympics projects. Software engineers will build computer models and run simulations to stress test every structural part before construction can begin."

"The computer modelling is incredibly exhaustive because engineers need to know designs will work years before they are actually built."

According to giant, the percentage of IT contractors involved with Olympics projects is predicted to increase as the telecoms and media infrastructure, which will ensure full multimedia coverage is relayed quickly and accurately to the vast global audience, is put in place.

Matthew Brown says: "The network infrastructure is absolutely vital to the modern Olympic Games. When this aspect of the Olympics development gets going demand for networking skills is going to surge."

Information distributed over the Olympics 2012 network will include event schedules and real-time results, athlete profiles, weather and performance data.

According to giant, with unemployment among IT contractors at a low level, and demand for IT skills robust across other sectors of the economy, the engineering sector will have to be increasingly competitive on pay and benefits if it is to attract and retain the right quality of people.

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