Thinking ahead

The IT recruitment industry is in an enviable position when it comes to understanding the market. By sitting at the nexus between employers and employees we know what the market demands and what is in supply. Our ICT Employment Trends Report is proof of this.

However, I think now is the time to look into the future and do some blue-sky thinking. Much of our current research data provides an insight to what has happened, but what would be great to know is what is going to happen in 3, 5 and 10 years from now.

That isn’t easy when you consider many of the roles our industry currently places didn’t even exist five or 10 years ago such as App Developer, Big Data Architect, User Experience Designers and Cloud Services Specialist. I often consider this when I’m at my granddaughter’s 3-year-old playgroup – what will the position descriptions and job titles of these Millennials be when they are in the workforce?

At the same time I’m sure any recruitment company that is doing its business planning must be looking into the proverbial ‘crystal ball’ and wondering what the next decade will bring.  Many organisations are already thinking about how the future workplace will operate – Adecco’s Tomorrow’s Workplace paper is but one example.

Some of our current data can indicate future demand. BurningGlass, an ITCRA research partner, identifies hard to fill jobs with hard to fill skills across a number of continents – which is useful insight for Australia and New Zealand. Not surprisingly, these ‘employer pain points’ demand premium salaries.

Cyber security is a case in point.  According to BurningGlass report, The Growth of Cybersecurity Jobs, in the US last year cyber security job postings took 24% longer to fill than ICT job postings on average. In fact this real time data source has seen cyber security postings grow by 74% from 2007-2013, which is over 2 times faster than all ICT jobs in the US.

We can and are drilling down into similar data for Australia, and sharing this with the tertiary and secondary sectors, to ensure there is alignment to skills and competencies for future market needs.

Finding and tracking the bellwethers of future market needs will be critical to defining a proactive, strategy strong ICT sector. This will then ensure we understand what skills the market is forecasting will be in demand – and then aligning this with tertiary and secondary education curriculum.

Consequently we would have graduates equipped with the skills the market needs making them more employable and supporting a sustainable economy.

This future education and employment supply chain is living, breathing and rapidly evolving in nature.

Industry-wide innovation and blue-sky thinking is needed to address this misalignment that currently exists. Yes, this might seem idealistic and possibly naïve … but wouldn’t it be great to see a future of more fluid curriculum design that is developed in consultation with industry and economic demands.

I believe that ITCRA has a significant, and critical, role to play in supporting a vibrant IT sector in Australia through driving an informed, research based discussions on the future employment of the sector. ITCRA has already had informal discussions with related industry bodies, organisations, universities and policy makers on the matter. If you would like to participate in some way, please let me know.

NOTE: ITCRA and IT Institute are already demonstrating the success of using the market needs to set education programs for ICT students and the first wave of graduates heading to roles our Trends Report identified as “in demand” will be the real test of model.

May the force be with us in the era of the ICT contractor

SEEK’s latest employment marketplace data published this week suggested that Australians looking for work in the ICT industry could have the best luck landing a job, with the sector continuing to lead new job advertisements during January 2015.

The Information, Communications and Technology industry was responsible for 10.7 per cent of total SEEK new job advertisements in 2014, representing the largest employment advertising classification. SEEK Employment Report.

The ICT contracting and recruitment sector has always known that the market generally follows the 80/20 rule in which 80% of roles were for contracting and 20% for permanent. Well things have started to change. Now 87% of advertised roles are for contractors and only 13% for permanents according to BurningGlass. This significant shift is a key finding in the ITCRA ICT Employment Trends Report for the December quarter.

This is a national result so it is not a consistent statistic across all states, sectors and roles (as I know from the regular calls I get from ICT professionals looking for roles who unfortunately have skills that are not in demand or are located in the wrong State or Territory where demand is reduced).  So let’s look more closely at the data.  In Queensland and Western Australia there is a heavy number of contract roles compared to permanent roles (94% to 6% in Queensland, 95% to 5% in WA).

Interestingly the highest number of permanent roles to contract was in Victoria with 17% permanent compared to 83% contract roles.

Why is this shift happening now?

Even though we have moved on from the GFC, it may have had a lasting impact on the nature of work. Perhaps employers have realised the value of investing in “project based teams” which assists in managing the financial and morale impacts of redundancies should the business not reach its targets or projects fail.  Consequently hiring contractors, with the ability to conclude or extend their contracts as needed, is appealing. Or has the push come from the market with ICT professionals happy to take on the lack of permanency for increased variety and choice in the roles undertaken and the tenure involved.

What are the possible consequences?

With increased demand we could soon see this change flow through to increased hourly rates. Contractors in Victoria and New South Wales are now earning almost twice that of their permanent colleagues, and in the smaller states and ACT, it is about one and half times the rate of permanent placements. Contractors, employers and recruiters will no doubt be closely watching to see if rates move higher in such a market.

In addition, the contractors who will do well will be those who articulate how they can improve business value and profitability. CIOs and CTOs have been pushing their way into the board rooms and executive meetings, and ensuring that IT is part of an organisation’s strategy rather than an adjunct to it. In my view this appears to be feeding down the line as organisations appreciate that their IT professionals directly add value to the business. Several reports we are reading show that hiring intentions, and job advertisements are reflecting this new focus of ICT talent’s value in improving business strength.

So, to all those ICT recruiters out there it isn’t news to you that the talent you manage continues to be in high demand, that contracting is growing as the preferred model of engagement and that hourly rates are increasing, but it seems that clients are now realising the value that quality ICT talent contributes to business improvement.

Let’s hope we can all benefit from a time when the force is with us – it has been a while coming!

“How long is a piece of string?”

I recently received a call from a Member needing information on LAFHA (Living Away From Home Allowance). The Member had accessed the ITCRA Tax Guide (like all aware Members should), found the section that was developed on LAFHA when all the changes were brought in and, just to be sure, emailed the ITCRA info line to check that the information as he read it was acceptable to his situation and could be used.

ITCRA hasn’t had a LAFHA question for so long I thought it best to check as the changes in these areas are subtle but carry incredible risk if badly managed. So a call to ITCRA’s Taxation Lawyer, Peter Gell, a review of the Tax Guide advice completed on the weekend, and the Member got his answer.

I had a call from another Member with a question on Working Holiday visas. Again so many changes that it is impossible to keep up so call goes out to the Immigration lawyer Alan Chanesman. All sorted and Member’s compliance and risk management intact.

Then a curly one: a call from a senior manager whose boss was overseas. A candidate was threatening to self harm. The Manager had followed all the procedures in place referring the candidate to professional assistance but needed additional advice on ensuring the business was protected. A call to the OAMPS team, policies checked, further referral points for candidate agreed upon and assistance for the manager to address any further calls from the candidate. The candidate is now accessing much needed support. The iSafe and WorkPro advisories on mental health got a workout and the senior manager was able to report a positive outcome when her boss returned.

Next, a contractor contacts me through LinkedIn, after seeing the ad on television where ITCRA (me) is promoting the IT Institute for improving job success through upgrading skills.

I referred her to the ITCRA Member Directory and to the IT Contractors’ network on LinkedIn which ITCRA moderates. She followed up to let me know she had very positive meetings with recruiters. I might add she fits all the demographics under scrutiny – female in IT, mature age, considered overqualified, based in a smaller capital city where roles are scarce. She later followed up to let me know she has a contract role for six months and has a network to connect with via LinkedIn, to assist her going forward.

A researcher was looking for some comment on women in IT for a paper they were writing. ITCRA’s Insight has published two papers on this topic and I have developed several blog discussions based on the research so that one was easy. And it also gave me the context for my next column for the Global Recruiter!

No, I don’t have every answer at my fingertips and no, it isn’t all on our website. It is impossible to forecast what might be asked BUT the network that is ITCRA knowledge is so far reaching that there are very few questions the Association receives that we can’t go to an “expert” and get the support we need.

That ball of string that is the ITCRA services and support continues to unravel as more and more clients, candidates, Members and non-Members see ITCRA as a reference point for the white collar contracting and recruitment environment with ICT front and centre in that space. It is great to know the network of providers we have established ensures the answers are provided and, ITCRA can build its knowledge base for all who need it.

Keep those queries coming – knowledge is power and gives us all a voice.