The number of IT vacancies for posts including supervisors, managers, programmers, and database administrators in Hong Kong grew 4 percent in the first quarter of 2010, said Robert Walters Tuesday.

Robert Walters specializes in recruitment at a mid-senior executive level and provides commentary on key trends across this segment of the market. The Robert Walters Asia Jobs Index tracks advertisements by number in the executive appointments sections of major newspapers and job search sites.

The number of IT vacancies hit 6,142; 4,800; and 6,394 in the first three months respectively, said Robert Walters.

The overall numbers of advertisements placed fell from 332,953 in Q4 2009 to 296,176 in Q1 2010. However, the Q1 2010 numbers were up almost 10 percent quarter-on-quarter, said the recruitment firm, adding that the post Christmas period in Hong Kong is traditionally quiet and when coupled with the Chinese New Year, advertising volumes are negatively impacted with key decision makers away.

March however showed a good level of recovery--up 45 percent month on month and 21 percent on Q1 2009--with recruitment activity back to levels not seen since October 2008, Robert Walters noted.

“In March hiring became quite aggressive following the Chinese New Year break. Some sectors have improved significantly, including property management, retail, admin and secretarial as well as operations and logistics," said Matthew Bennett, director at Robert Walters Hong Kong. "We have also seen a notable uplift in Legal as there has been an increase in IPOs and new regulatory conditions on reporting standards, requiring a higher number of legal and compliance staff."