More than five million new IT jobs will be created around the world in the next four years, new research has claimed.

Microsoft commissioned International Data Corporation (IDC) to conduct a study into the sector, which suggested that global IT employment will increase by three per cent annually - creating 5.8 million jobs by 2013.

In addition, the research forecast that innovation and enterprise in the IT industry will generate 75,000 new businesses during this period to support this rise in employment.

Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft, suggested that IT will play a major role in achieving global economic recovery.

He said: "In this fundamental economic reset, innovative technologies will play a vital role in driving productivity gains and enabling the creation of new local businesses and highly skilled jobs that fuel economic recovery."

Last month, TechAmerica Foundation disclosed that the US technology industry had witnessed a slower decline in employment than the rest of the private sector in the past 16 months.