The information technology related job opportunities jumped 25 per cent in 2006 driven by more export and outsourcing opportunities, higher recruitment by telecom and multinational companies and overall growth in the software and IT industry. A survey of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, a trade body of software and IT enabled services producers, said that a total of 1,896 IT related job placements were announced in newspapers and internet job portals between January and December period which was 1,580 at the same period in 2005. ‘The job trend in the IT sector is encouraging,’ said Sarwar Alam, president of the association which represents 220 software and IT firms employing more than 6,000 IT professionals. ‘The marked improvement in the IT employment market has indicated that the industry is growing rapidly over the last few years,’ he said.