The number of employers who may hire IT contractors to help them make the transition to Twitter could be boosted by the launch of Google Buzz, an expert has claimed.

Andrew Girdwood, head of search for bigmouthmedia, noted that the geo-aware nature of this piece of software could result in consumers in physical shops being affected by a company's web presence.

He explained: "[They] can use Google Buzz to share a thought, complaint or ask their friend a question."

This will result in retailers needing to be aware of the content that is found about their store on the internet, which could result in new opportunities being created for IT contractors.

Mr Girdwood stated: "Retailers can use the time spent on Twitter to automatically gain traction and exposure through Google Buzz. It's nearly the same effort for twice the results."

Earlier this month, Google announced that it would be rolling out Buzz with automatic integration with email service Gmail.