Are IT Jobs Recession-Proof?

Despite the hoopla around the latest IT employment stats, plenty of jobs are in high demand. Since we published a story on the latest IT employment figures, readers have been weighing in with relative disbelief.

Many of their arguments—that increases in outsourcing inflate the numbers, for example—make sense, but others sound like standard gripes from out-of-work IT pros.

So if you don't believe the government data, OK. For the jobless, you might want to check out this hiring forecast for the rest of 2008.

But what about this? A new study by job site JobFox.com, which found that several IT gigs rank among the most "recession-proof" for 2008. (But wait, are we really in a recession?)

In their top 20:

No. 2—Software designers/developers No. 6—Network/systems administrators No. 8—Software implementation analysis No. 12—Testing/quality assurance No. 14—Database administrators No. 16—IT executives

A reasonable list, given the business needs in some of these areas, and the lack of qualified pros in others. (We have another "hot jobs" list here.)

What do you think? Are those jobs truly recession-proof? Or are other skills in higher demand?