ICT Contractors Beat the Permanent Shift

April 2, 2007: According to the Best International Group, demand for ICT contractors is on an uphill rise in Australia while demand for permanent positions is faltering.

The latest monthly IT talent Index from the recruitment agency reveals that although the IT permanent job market faced a slight decline in the last month, demand for contract positions have overcome this two percent decrease.

Overall, the IT contractor demand looks set to soon exceed the demand for permanent staff. With some companies already facing ICT staffing issues, these results could be cause for further concern. McVicker says employers should work to focus on retaining employee talent in order to minimise the impact.

“The requirements for ICT contractors in Australia are increasingly significant,” he says. “The increase in demand for contract labour is outstripping that for permanent. The subsequent decline in permanent positions indicates that many employers have already begun to turn to contract staff to fulfil key project roles.”

The results of the March Talent Index also indicates some supply/demand concerns for sales people. March saw a 20 percent decline in IT sales demand, a substantial figure for an employment area that only accounts for 1.3 percent of the total ICT labour market.

Upward trends for ICT were focused on project management and architecture roles, while analyst programmers and internet development roles continued to dominate the market.

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