ICT job shortfall improves, but still a shortage of 5925 jobs

Permanent ICT jobs have recorded an increase in Victoria and New South Wales, according to the Clarius Skills Index.

The Index found there was still a profound shortage of ICT professionals in the September quarter, with 5925 jobs in demand.

However, it is an improvement of a shortage of 8258 ICT jobs in the June quarter.

Linda Trevor, executive general manager of Clarius’ ICT brand Candle, said the market had experienced unpredictability towards the end of this year.

“Business sentiment has left the market uncertain and it’s been a month-to-month decision making process for many hiring companies,” she said.

“While the Sydney and Melbourne markets were quite flat in the earlier stages of 2012, they have certainly picked up for permanent staff in the back half. This is an extremely positive sign as we move into the New Year as it indicates business – unrelated to the mining boom – is again on the move.”

Trevor believes demand for ICT roles will continue to grow, with areas such as cloud, mobile development and business intelligence (BI) increasing.

The National Broadband Network (NBN) and applications which utilise high-speed broadband will also ramp up demand for ICT roles, Trevor said.

While demand for permanent staff in banking and insurance has picked up, particularly in project management and business analyst roles, Trevor said the WA ICT job market has slowed due to China’s slowing economy.

“However, we expect this to correct itself with China’s manufacturing sector – the economies engine room – recording signs of growth this month,” Trevor said.

In South Australia, demand for ICT jobs has remained steady, while demand in the ACT has continued. In Queensland, government cutbacks to IT roles has meant the ICT jobs market is flat, according to Clarius.

Contractors in ICT are also finding it tough, with a drop of around 10 per cent to 20 per cent. However, the market is expected to pick up in the first half of next year.

The Clarius Skills Index measures supply and demand of skilled labour in Australia and is based on Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations data, which is analysed by KPMG.

Clarius’ March Index found there were sectors of IT which were experiencing shortages. For example, in the ACT there was a shortage in software configuration, software integration, SAP and Siebel development, network specialists, system and virtualisation specialists and mainframe development. There were also shortages in network/systems/server engineers and administrators.

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