National ICT Careers Week Highlights Growing Job Market

By Greg McNevin

July 21, 2008: With one week to go before the start of the inaugural National ICT Career Week, the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) is talking up Australia’s growing ICT jobs market, saying that upwards of 100,000 new ICT jobs have been created in the last decade alone.

Even with a recession on the horizon, AIIA CEO Ian Birks says that the long-term career prospects for graduates continue to strengthen.

“While national employment levels have risen by 1.6 per cent over the past five years, ICT professionals have seen a growth of 47.6 per cent in the 10 years to May 2008,” he says.

The increasingly vital role ICT skills play in almost all occupations is one reason for this, as are ICT-driven productivity gains, innovation and employment growth across all Australian industries. Birks says that the ICT industry is also now taking a front-row seat in the development of innovative solutions to many of Australia’s most pressing issues, such as climate change and management of water resources.

“When you work for a company in ICT, you’re there, right at the very beginning of all of that innovation,” echoes Tracey Fellows, Managing Director of Microsoft Australia. “You are constantly learning. And because of that continuous learning, you are constantly acquiring new skills that can take your career in many different directions. It really does open up a world of possibilities.”

National ICT Careers Week will be held in all states and territories from 28 July to 2 August 2008 as an initiative of the ICT Industry Leadership Group, co-hosted by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA).

Over 200 companies, educational institutions, government organisations and industry bodies will be hosting events and activities under the ‘Start Here, Go Anywhere’ banner.

Full details of participating organisations are available on the National ICT Careers Week web site.

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