IT specialists stay for colleagues

For technology specialists, team is by far the most important reason to stay with a job or client. That's according to the latest Job Market Report from Dice, the online career site for technology professions.

A total of 323 technology specialists from Germany were surveyed. The results show that among both employees and freelancers, the willingness to change jobs or projects has decreased compared to the previous year.

When a change is imminent, the most important thing is to get challenging and interesting tasks and a good salary. Many would also relocate for more money, especially salaried employees.

It is not the level of pay but the team that is the most important factor in staying with the current employer and client. This is true not only for 43 percent of salaried employees, but surprisingly also for 39 percent of freelance consultants.

When deciding to switch, however, payment plays a greater role for the latter than for salaried employees, and they are also more likely to leave if the client's business develops negatively. In contrast, salaried employees pay more attention to how much is invested in the IT department.

Willingness to switch down slightly

Both fewer salaried employees and fewer freelance consultants plan to change jobs within the next six months: While last year 36 percent of salaried employees and 74 percent of freelancers planned to change positions within six months, this year 33 percent of salaried employees and 64 percent of freelance consultants did.

However, the number of freelancers looking for something new immediately has jumped from 18 to 38 percent. This can have various causes, such as the expiration of projects lasting several years, increased dissatisfaction with the current assignment, or it can also be due to the fact that many freelancers are now only looking for a new project when the old one is about to be completed.

For clients, the increase signals that they have a good chance of hiring freelancers at the moment if they offer attractive terms.

When it comes to relocating, however, salaried employees are more flexible than freelancers: While 14 percent of salaried employees would not move for professional reasons, the figure for freelance consultants is 17 percent.