IT channel recruitment will pick up in second quarter of 2023 and reach pre-Covid levels again in Q3 after a period of major culls to the vendor workforce according to new figures from Robertson Sumner.
Robertson Sumner’s Marc Sumner said that “overpaid” and “over-hired” staff who were laid off from vendors are now seeing channel partners as a safe haven.
He said that firms like Microsoft and Salesforce over-hired during Covid and overpaid people. That bubble was going burst.
During the first quarter the market was stagnant, with people re-evaluating salaries that plateaued during the quarter. However, the first two weeks of second quarter saw volumes of more than any week in first quarter, Sumner said.
In the second quarter there were more submitted vacancies of replacements and additional growth roles than in any week of first quarter.
He thinks that this has been good news for the channel which was thinking gloomy thoughts in the first quarter but become more optimistic since.
Sumner added there are winners and losers in this game of hiring, with service providers coming out on top ahead of legacy vendors.
“I’m now seeing some of the new, emerging tech vendors and the distributors that are in security especially doing really well, alongside AI vendors.
“The freeze lifts can only be a positive thing in the IT channel because the people in the coalface who are dealing with the end user are seeing the demand suddenly coming.
“My prediction is that by September hiring will be back to normal. These vendors will be hiring again the people they laid off in the last six months.”
