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Even in a slow economy, there’s steady demand for people with specific IT skills. Technology professionals experienced in areas such as application development, unified communications, virtualization, information security, wireless communications and computing, service-oriented architecture (SOA) and business intelligence — to name a few — should have no problem finding a job, according to IT recruitment experts.

People who are capable of creating new applications are especially desirable. “There has been a consistent and constant need for development talent across the board,” says Doug Burris, senior account executive at staffing firm Intronic Solutions Group.

“There is always a need for Java developers,” Burris says. “However, in the past year there has been more and more need for strong skills in .net development, primarily with C#.” He says organizations are also looking for people with experience in older technologies such as Unix systems administration, database analysis and even COBOL development.

Security is another especially hot area, with organizations in need of people skilled in technologies such as firewalls, access controls and encryption. The demand for security specialists will likely increase as organizations deploy more mobile devices and applications. And organizations will need people to help build out their wireless networks and develop mobile applications.

Demand continues to rise for people who are skilled in both technology and business. “It is of critical importance that IT people develop business skills,” Burris says. “The ability to communicate at the level of your audience is paramount to success in delivering a project. More and more emphasis is put on the developer/engineer to act in a liaison role with business analysts and project managers in requirements-gathering sessions, project status updates, launch meetings, etc.”

Technology workers today “are often salespeople and project managers required to craft communications and work across multiple departments,” adds Todd Black, regional vice president of Technisource, a subsidiary of recruiter Spherion Corp .

“As you move up in an organization, especially in IT, business skills become much more important,” Black says. “Companies are looking not only for technology skills, but also the ability to communicate technical concepts to various audiences.”

So where do skills come from? Burris says colleges and universities “simply cannot keep up with the changing technologies in today’s world. Most universities can deliver a baseline computer sciences degree. However, third-party training companies can be much more flexible by bringing in trainers who are currently working in the ‘real world’ to teach relevant information to the students.”

He adds that most vendors offer training on their products and more employers are providing two or more weeks of annual training for their employees to keep them up to speed on changing technologies.

Black says p eople learn IT skills both in college and through training/education programs. “Although some of the technology is learned in school, real experience is gained in the field, and the truth is, you need both,” he says.

Don’t expect a slowdown in demand for IT skills anytime soon. “ With the pressure of the employment gap becoming a reality as more and more baby boomers are retiring, IT candidates will continue to be in demand,” Burris says.

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