Despite the ailing economy and the rout in the financial sector, the nation’s job market is revealing bright spots where those with certain skills remain in demand, according to the 2009 Salary Guides from Robert Half International.

They include positions in accounting, information technology (IT) and administrative roles, the staffing company said.

Within accounting and finance, these positions are in demand: staff and senior accountants; public accountants; and credit and collections specialists. Within IT, Web developers; programmers analysts; and help-desk professional are most needed. Lastly, in administrative and office support roles, customer service representatives; data-entry clerks; and administrative health-care clerks and secretaries are sought, Robert Half said.

The recently released guides also point to modest overall salary increases for jobs in these sectors. Overall, IT salaries are anticipated to rise 3.7 percent next, while those working in administrative and accounting and finance positions can expect salary increases of 2.7 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

Free copies of the 2009 Salary Guides can be ordered by going to www.rhi.com/SalaryGuides or calling 800-803-8367. Downloadable pdf files can found at www.rhi.com/2009SalaryGuide.

A new report by Pace University shows the job market in the region for jobs in the information technology, or IT, sector shrunk dramatically during the third quarter, with few exceptions.

The decline was most pronounced in Westchester, Pace said, where the IT job market had its worst quarterly slide since Pace created its IT job index three years ago.

The Pace/SkillPROOF IT Job Index dropped more than 100 points during the third quarter, in contrast to the strong growth of over 40 points reported last quarter.

In Westchester, of the 11 job categories, only Network Systems and Data Communications Analysts exhibited growth with a slight upturn near the end of the quarter, said Pace, which has campuses in Pleasantville, White Plains and New York City.

The IT job market in Manhattan was better, Pace said, falling just 30 points.

The full report can be read at www.pace.edu/PSII.

The fall is typically a great time for students and others looking for temporary or part-time jobs to find work as retailers gear up for the busy holiday shopping season.

But with expectations that consumers will trim gift giving, thanks to the lackluster economy, many retailers are reducing hiring, leaving job seekers to weigh alternatives to retail shops.

We explore that topic in more depth in tomorrow’s People@Work column. Look for it in the Business section here at LoHud.com and in The Journal News.

Many corporate recruiters view workers of Generation Y, those born 1979 to 1994, as weak performers compared to their older cohorts.

In a recent survey, just 20 percent of recruiters classified Gen Y, also known as Millennials and Echo Booomers, as “generally great performers,” according to JobFox, an Internet career site.

Compare that to 63 percent of the recruiters polled who said Baby Boomers (43 to 62 years old) were great performers; 58 percent who gave high marks to Gen X (29 to 42) and 25 percent for Traditionalists (63 and older).

In large numbers, recruiters also classified Gen Y workers as “generally poor performers.” Thirty percent of recruiters said Millennials were poor performers, followed by 22 percent for Traditionalists, 5 percent for Gen X and 4 percent for Baby Boomers, JobFox reported.

The site’s CEO, Rob McGovern, suggests that the attitudes that need adjusting belong more to recruiters, since Gen Y workers will soon become the largest population of working Americans ever.

“Businesses must shed negative perceptions and learn new ways to incorporate Gen Y views into the workforce,” he said, adding that companies must do a better job of hiring, appreciating and motivating younger workers or risk competitive disadvantage.

“Once you begin to understand them, Gen Y is a very impressive group of workers,” said McGovern, who interviewed more than 100 young professionals to write a book on career advice.

Among his findings, McGovern found four major motivators that propel Millennials at work:

• The new reward is balance. Gen Y doesn’t understand the rigidity of the 9-to-5 workweek. Millennials work best when they can set their own hours to get work accomplished. Flexible schedules are highly coveted by younger workers.

• Keep them cutting-edge. Millennials understand, better than any other generation before them, that everything becomes quickly obsolete, including skills. Companies must do a better job at providing new learning experiences for Gen Y or they will seek new opportunities elsewhere.

• Don’t treat them as junior anything. “This is a generation that was taught that everyone is special, that everyone gets a trophy – win or lose,” McGovern said. “They won’t be satisfied working inside the corporate machine. They want to contribute immediately and companies must do a better job of helping younger workers see how their work is important and how what they do relates to the overall goals of the company.”

• Provide stability. Counter to what many think, Gen Y workers are loyal team players as long as they can balance work and life goals, gain new learning opportunities and feel a part of company goals. In a recent JWT survey, for example, 60 percent of Gen Y-ers agreed that an employee owes loyalty to their employer.

Presidential candidates aren’t the only ones campaigning this election season.

A recent survey by Accountemps shows more than half of employees interviewed said the level of office politics in their workplaces has increased compared to five years ago.

Just 12 percent of respondents reported a decline.

While most workers don’t advocate jumping into the political fray, a majority agree that a little knowledge can be power: More than half (54 percent) say it’s wise to be aware of political undercurrents in the office without becoming directly involved.

The survey, based on telephone interviews with 522 office workers, asked: “In your opinion, has the level of office politics in the workplace increased or decreased compared to five years ago?”

Here are the responses:

Increased greatly……………………………..     20 percent
Increased somewhat………………………….   33 percent
Neither increased nor decreased …………… 25 percent
Decreased somewhat……………………………..   9 percent
Decreased greatly……………………………………  3 percent
Don’t know/no answer ………………………..      10 percent