Demand for IT staff plummets

The number of permanent and contract IT job vacancies in the UK is falling faster than at any time in the past six years, as recruitment consultancies report overall demand for staff across all sectors declining at record rates, says Computing.co.uk.

But the state of the IT jobs market is not as bad as elsewhere - IT recruitment is falling more slowly than most other sectors, according to the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG Report on Jobs survey.

The only roles showing a growth in demand in the UK are in the nursing, medical and care sector - everywhere else has shown a drop. But the rate of decline in IT is less than every other sector covered by the research.

Time Warner expects to report a red 2008, thanks to a whopping $25 billion impairment charge for its cable, magazine publishing and AOL businesses. This would be the media giant's first annual loss in six years, reports The Register

Naturally, it blames the meltdown. "The economic environment has proved somewhat more challenging than the company previously expected, particularly for the advertising businesses at the AOL and publishing segments," Time Warner said in a statement.

But that's just a start. The company was directly affected by the demise of meltdown poster child Lehman Brothers. The bankrupt investment bank was a tenant in Time Warner's flagship New York office building. After a restructured lease, the company will stomach another loss of between $50 million and $60 million.

One of the world's largest computer manufacturers, Chinese-based Lenovo, will cut about 2 500 jobs around the world, says The BBC

Lenovo blamed the cuts, which amount to nearly 11% of its total workforce, on the global economic downturn and a fall in demand for PCs.

It said the cuts were part of efforts to save $300 million in the coming financial year. They were, it argued, essential if the company was to remain competitive.

Cisco has introduced Eos, or Entertainment Operating System, its hosted platform for media companies, reports PC World

"We are here now, ready," said Dan Scheinman, senior VP and GM of Cisco's media solutions group.

The platform will allow media and entertainment companies to take better advantage of their content, letting them create, manage and grow online communities around sports teams, music acts or TV shows, according to Cisco. For end-users, the platform will open the door for more social and personalised content, it said.