Boost in IT jobs on the way, says Microsoft

Almost 80,000 jobs could be created over the next four years as thousands of technology firms are created in the UK, technology giant Microsoft has predicted.

Research by the firm suggested more than £50 billion could be spent on information technology this year and rising by 1.8 per cent a year from now and 2013.

The IT market will drive the creation of nearly 2,500 businesses and 78,200 jobs between the end of this year and 2013, according to the study.

Most of the companies will be small and locally owned organisations, and the jobs will be highly skilled and high-quality, it said.

Microsoft underwent a "cultural reformation" when it felt the effect of the global recession, chief executive Steve Ballmer said.

"Consumer spending was impacted, we had to decide how to cut. We suffered the first revenue declines in our company history. They were a few per cent," he said on a visit to London.

Microsoft "locked" its research and development budget and made sure it kept enough money to invest in new businesses, he said.

Bullmer is optomistic on the future but called for greater investment in future generations.