National IT Market Update - March 2011

Over the past quarter Australia’s IT hiring market has been characterised by slower-than-usual hiring activity early in the year in New South Wales and Victoria, while major issues (such as the Queensland floods) have given rise to large regional variations in hiring patterns in the other states.

As a result pay increases have been evident in only a select few of the 50 IT roles we track.

Peter Acheson, CEO of Peoplebank comments, “Although the overall trend, at the national level, is generally positive, each of the states has been impacted by major issues that have affected their IT hiring patterns.”

“For example, the Queensland floods temporarily shut down the state’s economy, and the rebuilding effort will drive Government investment for some time. On the other hand, the resources sector remains buoyant, while Queensland-based businesses have – in a remarkable display of resilience – hired large numbers of contractors to help restore their operations in February. As a result, there have been pay rises for Project Architects, programmers and related technicians.

“By contrast, markets in Victoria and New South Wales started their 2011 projects later than usual, especially in the banking and utilities sectors. Several large companies had extended their December-January planning periods into February.

“While there was stronger demand for IT contractors from the medium-sized and smaller enterprises in both states, the net result is that the traditional peak in hiring that we usually see in January, won’t be fully evident until March or even April. Over the period, we saw pay rises in specialist areas in both cities,” he says.

Acheson comments that while demand levels in South Australia have remained steady, the State has seen pay rises for senior IT workers with specialist skills in ERP, Applications Development and support infrastructure administration. Similarly, the Western Australian market continues to grow and Peoplebank’s Canberra branch is having its strongest quarter for several years in terms of the numbers of roles available.

“There is a palpable mood of confidence in the air in Canberra, which has absorbed changes arising from the Gershon Report and is emerging from the impact of the GFC and last year’s political uncertainties. While salaries for permanent roles have remained relatively stable, there have been some pay rises in the contract sector – for instance, for developers with specialist skills. More importantly, the market is confident that there will be ongoing investment in IT, which will underpin a strong jobs market in 2011.”

On current trends, Acheson predicts that while there is a shortage of skills in specialist areas, demand has been largely met from within the local market.

“I expect that throughout 2011 the market will continue to tilt in favour of candidates. However, the good news for many employers is that – even if it’s not terribly easy – it will be possible to source good candidates for IT roles throughout this year and early into 2012,” Acheson concludes.