The future of IT in Oz ?
 

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

Jobs surge tipped for next year
Jennifer Foreshew
AUGUST 27, 2002

EMPLOYERS are bracing for the next talent war as IT in Australia shows signs of recovery in 2003.

The 2002 market update by Michael Page Technology records an improvement in sentiment and potential job demand for the year ahead.
"Good candidates in all sectors are starting to get two or three offers - which we have not seen for some time," Michael Page Technology associate director Lesley Bishop said.

"This is a sign that those who have been in a stable position through the tough times are likely to be looking at their next career move."

Ms Bishop said employers should consider retention strategies for key staff.

"We saw this trend when Australia emerged from the last recession 10 years ago.

"When candidate shortages start to emerge, which they will certainly do, skilled professionals realise they are in a strong position to negotiate a better package."

Ms Bishop said the knock-on effect would be an explosion of employee churn, rising salaries and unsustainable bonuses.

"While we are far from this environment, the writing is on the wall," she said.

The survey suggests new products will drive hi-tech employment in 2003, with wireless networks and Bluetooth technologies leading to greater business mobility.

Existing technologies such as 3G and GPRS will also drive demand.

CRM, VoIP and AVVID technologies will be hot, and associated skills will be the hardest to find.

The study measures employment and remuneration trends in commerce and industry, IT&T, banking and finance.

The first sign of a jobs recovery was stronger demand for IT contractors, which was a precursor to more hiring for full-time roles, Ms Bishop said.

Companies were also realising headcount increases were pivotal to growth.

There had been an increase of about 20 per cent in hi-tech contracting this year, and an increase in fixed-period contracts, she said.

Salaries were expected to remain subdued, with some movement in the first quarter of 2003.

Companies seeking to retain key employees without substantially increasing their cost base could encourage more flexible working conditions or a lifestyle balance.

The report notes an increased focus on bonuses and scrutiny of performance.

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

onlyme <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > Jobs surge tipped for next year Jennifer Foreshew AUGUST 27, 2002
    > EMPLOYERS are bracing for the next talent war as IT in Australia shows signs of
    > recovery in 2003.
    > The 2002 market update by Michael Page Technology records an improvement in
    > sentiment and potential job demand for the year ahead. "Good candidates in all
    > sectors are starting to get two or three offers
    > - which we have not seen for some time," Michael Page Technology associate director
    > Lesley Bishop said.
    > "This is a sign that those who have been in a stable position through the tough
    > times are likely to be looking at their next career move."
    > Ms Bishop said employers should consider retention strategies for key staff.
    > "We saw this trend when Australia emerged from the last recession 10 years ago.
    > "When candidate shortages start to emerge, which they will certainly do, skilled
    > professionals realise they are in a strong position to negotiate a better package."
    > Ms Bishop said the knock-on effect would be an explosion of employee churn, rising
    > salaries and unsustainable bonuses.
    > "While we are far from this environment, the writing is on the wall," she said.
    > The survey suggests new products will drive hi-tech employment in 2003, with
    > wireless networks and Bluetooth technologies leading to greater business mobility.
    > Existing technologies such as 3G and GPRS will also drive demand.
    > CRM, VoIP and AVVID technologies will be hot, and associated skills will be the
    > hardest to find.
    > The study measures employment and remuneration trends in commerce and industry,
    > IT&T, banking and finance.
    > The first sign of a jobs recovery was stronger demand for IT contractors, which was
    > a precursor to more hiring for full-time roles, Ms Bishop said.
    > Companies were also realising headcount increases were pivotal to growth.
    > There had been an increase of about 20 per cent in hi-tech contracting this year,
    > and an increase in fixed-period contracts, she said.
    > Salaries were expected to remain subdued, with some movement in the first quarter
    > of 2003.
    > Companies seeking to retain key employees without substantially increasing their
    > cost base could encourage more flexible working conditions or a lifestyle balance.
    > The report notes an increased focus on bonuses and scrutiny of performance.

You deserve a pat on the back for posting some heartening news. The best thing IT
professionals can do now is ensre they have adequate skills to capitalise on the
second coming of the communication technologies.

Thunder Ace

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

I'm afraid this is just an agency trying to talk the market up to hopefully drum up some business for themselves. There is no factual evidence of this.

In fact I've heard agents say this stuff on average about every 3 months in Australia and the UK for the last 18 months. Face facts, as I've said before IT jobs are going the same way as manufacturing and textiles jobs and they are NOT coming back!

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

You've only to look at copies of computing or computer weekly to see how the IT job market has fallen over. Posts on Australian agency websites have gone the same way too, yet we keep being told that there is an upturn around the corner. I'll believe it when I see it. In the meantime I'll take the opportunity to get some experience in other fields and hopefully broaden my horizons a little. I see PCs every day in the UK and if I can't get a job fixin' 'em in Oz it'll be a good opportunity to do something 'real' perhaps:D

Cheers,

MAX

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

Hi, first post from me on this site. I've been lurking for a few weeks as I'm currently getting docs together to apply for RPL at ACS.

Sorry, Devlin, but I can't agree with your closing statement that IT jobs will not be coming back.
Will IT systems just be left to decay and die, without investment and modernisation? I don't think so. Give it a few years until the "world economy" has turned around, and you'll see a demand for IT professionals again as projects start-up and investment in IT systems comes back. Like the financial markets, it's cyclical. In fact IT is closely linked with the financial markets. There are peaks and troughs. We're in the middle of a trough at the moment, but the peak will come, sooner or later. This isn't just happening in Oz, it's happening here in London as well. The real problem is in surviving this downturn until things get better again.

Cheers
Del

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

IT employment will pick up again. Of that there is no doubt (IT is not going to go away is it ?). It's just a question of when. My bet is that it will start slowly but surely next spring.

In a few years time though there will be a whole boatload of IT graduates coming out of university because that is the vocation they chose when they made their career decisions based upon the boom that recently ended.

When I started in IT in 1985 we employed people qualified in such disciplines as 'Textile Design', 'General Studies' etc and turned them into SW designers. Those days have long gone and IT supply has caught with - and overtaken - demand. Wages will be lower as a consequence.

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

You quite obviously are not an IT expert! If you were you would realise that the IT
industry is in it's very early infancy, We are nowhere near reaching the limits of
technology but when we do that is when things will slow down permanently!

By the way Textiles is a MASSIVE industry and crying out for workers! (We all wear
clothes don't we?)

Regards Jim

"Devlin" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > I'm afraid this is just an agency trying to talk the market up to hopefully drum up
    > some business for themselves. There is no factual evidence of this.
    > In fact I've heard agents say this stuff on average about every 3 months in
    > Australia and the UK for the last 18 months. Face facts, as I've said before IT
    > jobs are going the same way as manufacturing and textiles jobs and they are NOT
    > coming back!
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

It has started turning around!

Out company picked up two new major contracts last week! Both saying that they could
wait no longer.

"onlyme" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > Jobs surge tipped for next year Jennifer Foreshew AUGUST 27, 2002
    > EMPLOYERS are bracing for the next talent war as IT in Australia shows signs of
    > recovery in 2003.
    > The 2002 market update by Michael Page Technology records an improvement in
    > sentiment and potential job demand for the year ahead. "Good candidates in all
    > sectors are starting to get two or three offers
    > - which we have not seen for some time," Michael Page Technology associate director
    > Lesley Bishop said.
    > "This is a sign that those who have been in a stable position through the tough
    > times are likely to be looking at their next career move."
    > Ms Bishop said employers should consider retention strategies for key staff.
    > "We saw this trend when Australia emerged from the last recession 10 years ago.
    > "When candidate shortages start to emerge, which they will certainly do, skilled
    > professionals realise they are in a strong position to negotiate a better package."
    > Ms Bishop said the knock-on effect would be an explosion of employee churn, rising
    > salaries and unsustainable bonuses.
    > "While we are far from this environment, the writing is on the wall," she said.
    > The survey suggests new products will drive hi-tech employment in 2003, with
    > wireless networks and Bluetooth technologies leading to greater business mobility.
    > Existing technologies such as 3G and GPRS will also drive demand.
    > CRM, VoIP and AVVID technologies will be hot, and associated skills will be the
    > hardest to find.
    > The study measures employment and remuneration trends in commerce and industry,
    > IT&T, banking and finance.
    > The first sign of a jobs recovery was stronger demand for IT contractors, which was
    > a precursor to more hiring for full-time roles, Ms Bishop said.
    > Companies were also realising headcount increases were pivotal to growth.
    > There had been an increase of about 20 per cent in hi-tech contracting this year,
    > and an increase in fixed-period contracts, she said.
    > Salaries were expected to remain subdued, with some movement in the first quarter
    > of 2003.
    > Companies seeking to retain key employees without substantially increasing their
    > cost base could encourage more flexible working conditions or a lifestyle balance.
    > The report notes an increased focus on bonuses and scrutiny of performance.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

James,

If you'd made the effort to read my post more carefully then maybe you could have formulated an intelligent reply

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

"2004 will see a mini boom in IT" - my company's prediction, and we predicted the dotcom fallout correctly to within a couple of months. I'm hoping to get out to Sydney on a 3 year contract in the IT sector and I'm expecting gradual improvement throughout that period. Trust me...

Re: The future of IT in Oz ?
 

Wake up man, there will not be a shortage of technology professionals anywhere for
the forseeable future. Especially not in Australia too, the ACS waited too long in
tightening the criteria and theres still the influx of overseas students (10,000+)
studying technology related degrees which automatically provides them with enough
points to apply to become a resident.

Any IT guy (or non-techo for that matter) with a small degree of fiscal knowledge
could have predicted the dot com meltdown. As a former IT contractor I had enough cop
on to see that supply soon catches up with demand when the rewards are good and went
permanent. The contractor market is dead here and I don't expect any revival. Don't
get your hopes up unless you are an absolute top gun.



"Dannyboy" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > Originally posted by etlniwd:
    > > James,
    > >
    > > If you'd made the effort to read my post more carefully then maybe you could have
    > > formulated an intelligent reply
    > "2004 will see a mini boom in IT" - my company's prediction, and we predicted the
    > dotcom fallout correctly to within a couple of months. I'm hoping to get out to
    > Sydney on a 3 year contract in the IT sector and I'm expecting gradual improvement
    > throughout that period. Trust me...
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com