Aussie tech workers' job jitters increase
Aussie tech workers' job jitters increase
Nov 22, 2004: Despite the IT industry showing good signs of recovery following its post-Y2K malaise, more than a quarter of Australian IT workers feel less secure in their jobs than they did 12 months ago.
That is according to findings from the second annual Survey of Employee Satisfaction and Motivation in Australia, by online recruitment listings service SEEK. SEEK collected responses from over 6,000 participants about how they view their work. Specific to the IT industry, responses from over 1,000 participants were collected.
In addition to their insecurities, IT workers are also relatively unhappy compared to employees in other sectors. Fifty-two percent of the IT workers who were surveyed said they were unhappy in their jobs, compared to an average of 45.2 percent across all professions.
According to SEEK CEO Paul Bassat, the contractual nature of the IT industry plays a critical role in influencing job satisfaction and security.
“This begs the question as to why IT workers’ job related security has not rebounded in line with their industry? I suspect it is because approximately one quarter of IT positions are contractual, coupled with lingering effects from the dot com crash."
Additionally, when asked to specify their level of agreement or disagreement with the statement ‘management inspires trust’, 70 percent of IT workers disagreed compared to the national average of 62 percent.
Seventy-one percent of IT workers also disagreed with the statement ‘management is open and honest with employees’, giving them even more reason to feel insecure and unhappy about their jobs. The national average was 64 percent.
“The findings of the survey should serve as a wake up call for managers. Managers need to take a look at themselves and reassess their skills, especially in the area of building relationships based on trust with their employees. Furthermore, at this time of year when people are reassessing their jobs and careers, it is important that they take the time to discuss contracts and opportunities with individual workers. Talking about the renewal of contracts ahead of time benefits both the company and worker and ensures that everyone’s expectations are on the same level," added Bassat.
Related Article: