Severe ICT skills shortage abates, but not for long
- 27 July, 2009 15:32
- Comments (1)
The acute skills shortage haunting the ICT industry has abated but is expected to return in the next few months, according to the latest figures from the Clarius Skills Index.
With data sourced from various government departments, the Index gauges labour supply and demand through a points system. A score of 100 indicates equal tension and anything greater than 105 on skills shortages is regarded as extreme. A score of 95-98 is considered moderate.
The Index showed that demand has dropped to a Balanced rate of 99.6, a half point drop from last quarter. This was down from a High rating of 104.0 a year ago. Despite job vacancies hitting the lowest point in five years, computing professionals still came in fifth on the list of top 10 occupations with the highest level of skills shortages.
The rate of job loss has also slowed in the last three months, a strong indication that the employment market has bottomed and could be set for an upturn before Christmas.
Nationally, there are signs that previously withheld projects are being mobilised. Besides NSW, all states have had an indication of confidence returning with increased demand for certain ICT roles particularly for business analysts. As the months roll on and the projects progress, more technical specialist roles will be up for grabs.
The NSW recruitment market has remained flat. A lack of business analyst job opportunities is a signal that projects in the state have yet to pick up.
While the rate of demand is stabilising, Candle ICT CEO, David Stewart, is expecting a sharp rise to throw ICT into unbalanced territory again.
“We are seeing an increase in demand in a number of areas,” he said. “This will outstrip supply again and we will probably see this within the next 6-9 months.”
Stewart conceded the skills shortage will remain uneven across the board.
“There probably still be an oversupply of business analysts and project managers but it will not be as bad as it once was,” he said. “But technical specialists are still hard to find.”
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Comments
Suzan Gillie
(No subject)
When you use the phrase "labor shortage" or "skills shortage" you're speaking in a sentence fragment. What you actually mean to say is: "There is a labor shortage at the salary level I'm willing to pay." That statement is the correct phrase; the complete sentence, the intellectually honest statement.
If you start raising your wages and improving working conditions, and continue to do so, you'll solve your "shortage" and will have people lining up around the block to work for you even if you need to have huge piles of steaming manure hand-scooped on a blazing summer afternoon.
Re: Shortage due to retirees: With the majority of retirement accounts down about 50% or more, people entering retirement age are being forced to work well into their sunset years. So, you won't be getting a worker shortage anytime soon due to retirees exiting the workforce.
Okay, fine. Some specialized jobs require training and/or certification, again, raise your wages and improve benefits! You'll incentivize people to self-fund their education so that they can enter the industry in a work-ready state. The attractive wages, working conditions and career prospects of technology during the 1980's and 1990's was a prime example of people's willingness to fund their own education.
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