Canberra IT&T Market Update: April 2010

The Treasury budget forecast of 2.25 percent growth in 2010-11, rising to 4.5 percent from 2011-12 and beyond indicates a very strong recovery - meaning demand for a range of skills will likely surge.

The impact of rising demand for ICT skills is already being felt across Australia, including in the ACT which has experienced increased demand for contract ICT workers over the past three months.

As a consequence of this rising demand, which follows a prolonged period of contractor oversupply (which saw numbers of contractors pursue project work in the other state capitals), the ACT’s IT skills pool is becoming tight.

In demand skills currently include Project Managers, .NET Developers, Business Analysts, Java Developers and Architects.

While payscales remain flat in the ACT, they are growing in other states, notably NSW and VIC, where the impact of large scale projects such as core systems upgrades at the four major banks are already resulting in a slight but clear rise in ICT contractor rates.

This means that the local market is at further risk of losing contract workers to higher-paying roles in other capital cities.

While there may be some additional contractors becoming available in July (as short-term contracts conclude), the ACT market is likely to face a deepening skills shortage during 2010.