The career scope of ICT professionals is only increasing, according to Australia’s Digital Pulse – a collaboration report from Deloitte and the Australian Computing Society.
Based on the interesting findings, the digital technologies sector is one of the most promising aspects of the Australian economy – contributing $79 billion in the 2013-2014 financial year (5.1 per cent of GDP).
In 2014 alone, the number of ICT professionals grew five per cent to more than 600,000 across the country.
However, there are challenges ahead for the industry. Over the coming six years, Australia will need another 100,000 ICT professionals to take the strain off existing contractors and workers.
ICT contractors and professionals are vital for the economy as many processes move to the digital platform.
As such, Deloitte Access Economics director John O’Mahony is urging people to transition or train in this field.
“The contribution from ICT to Australia’s economy, and our successfully meeting our productivity challenges, are at risk if we don’t ensure there is an adequate workforce equipped with the necessary ICT skills. We urgently need to boost both awareness and opportunity around ICT skills development,” he said.
“Despite the strong growth in demand, with a projected gap of more than 100,000 ICT workers in the next five years, and declining rates of ICT graduates, we are facing a serious problem.”
One of the interesting statistics to emerge from the report was that 47 per cent of people who studied ICT at some level are now in other professions – including marketing, accounting and advertising. The research indicates there is scope for these people to move back into this promising industry, and take their pick of contracting roles and job opportunities.
ICT contracting – competitive market
With more professionals expected to move into the ICT industry, it is likely that the contracting scene will become more competitive than ever. According to the last ICT Employment Trends Report published by the Information Technology Contract and Recruitment Association, contracting roles account for 91 per cent of all roles.
This is causing delays in recruitment with so many candidates to pick from in certain states. For example, it is taking seven weeks to fill an ICT contract role in the Australian Capital Territory.
With this in mind, it will be important for businesses and recruiters to consider the help of Oncore Services. We have developed software that can support for ICT workers in many ways including superannuation, payroll and invoicing.
For more information, contact our expert team today.
