Don't want to work for the government? Well, it may just be the best place to find IT work lately, or so says a Washington Post article, "As Technology Needs Grow, One Sector Has No Shortage of Jobs."

According to the article, spending on IT services is expected to grow 3.5 percent over the next five years. That's nothing to shake your head at.

From the Washington Post article:

Platinum Solutions, a Reston information technology firm that serves the government, needs to find new employees so fast that it hired four full-time recruiters. At any given time, the company has 20 to 40 job openings, and it recently opened an office in West Virginia that has 65 employees.

"We're hiring as fast as we can," said chief executive Laila Rossi. "The past six months have been the peak for us."

She said the company used to have a new employee start every few weeks. Now it's common to see nine or 10 begin work in a single day, week after week.

At a time when most industries are slashing costs and headcounts, IT firms in the Washington region are experiencing growth thanks to continued government contracts and an increased reliance on technology in nearly every sector of the economy. The demand for IT expertise has helped keep the local economy stronger compared with other regions of the country.

That's good news for Maryland, D.C. and Virginia-area IT workers. I know the national numbers are very different, but if you have any flexibility in relocating, you might consider that region for a technology job.

As reported July 13, the second quarter of 2009 has seen a decline in job losses for the technology sector. It's hard to get overly excited about those numbers given that it's the worst recession for IT in seven years. Still, it doesn't hurt to be able to report some smidgen of good news when it happens.