Aussie IT industry reaches new highs

A recent survey in Australia has revealed that the IT industry has reached new highs this year, but there are no expectations of a boom and bust cycle happening again in the near future.

The Icon Index Internet report found out that IT jobs are up 30 percent compared to this time last year. 35,484 positions were advertised during the first quarter of this year, compared to 24,700 advertised at the same time last year.

In terms of states, Queensland experienced a 31 percent rise in positions advertised; New South Wales had a 37 percent rise; Victoria received a 31 percent increase and Western Australia welcomed a 49 percent improvement. Tasmania was only state to have a decrease of 26 percent.

But Gill Noble, the national HR services consultant for Icon, believes that the IT market in Australia has matured and we do not have to fear the risk of intense growth followed by rapid decline. "We won't see the same boom as we experienced during the Olympics, Y2K and when GST was introduced, because the industry has evolved, just like the textile industry did over the years too. Things are going to be more stable from now on.

"Financial regulations, which have been recently introduced into Australia, will spark a bit of a mini-boom for IT development in the banking industry, but other than that, the market will take a much more thoughtful approach to growth and expansion.

"We have also experienced an increase in offshore interest with Australian skilled workers. Companies in the Middle East, for example, have started to employ our workers because of our experience in all aspects of the industry."

The Index shows that technical/engineering, support and sales/marketing positions are the most popular. The top ten 'skills' key worded in job advertisements remained: implementation, finance, maintenance, worldwide web, testing, Microsoft products, project management, analysis, tertiary qualification and documentation.

Contract work also increased again this year - up to 85 percent, compared to 76 percent last year.

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