“Courses on Offer” to reflect “Skills in Demand” – now that’s a thought!

I love it the when the data can show you what is really going on. This is how I felt when I looked at ITCRA’s latest data from SkillsMatch and Burning Glass. In my role, I hear about trends and insight left, right and centre, combined with predictions of what is and isn’t happening in the market. So, it’s nice to have the facts on hand.

Just some background for you … SkillsMatch and Burning Glass provide quantitative real time data sources on the ICT job market. Our SkillsMatch data captures the job placements from ITCRA Members, while Burning Glass provides an analysis of how many jobs are advertised (no double counting if one role is advertised in multiple channels) and itemises the skills employers are looking for.

Now back to what the data told us. We wanted to find out if there was really a skills shortage in three of the IT roles that are listed in the Federal Government’s Skilled Occupations List (SOL). This list shows occupations that are acceptable for immigration to Australia – you can imagine how important this list is. It protects the local talent pool when there is oversupply, while allowing foreign workers in when the local talent pool has dried up.

Did I mention this list can be a political mine field too?

The three roles we looked at were Analyst Programmers, Systems Analysts and Desktop Network Support roles.

Here’s what the data told us …

Systems Analysts are sitting pretty at the moment. Although a small market, those positions take over three months to fill, compared to the market average of on 10 days. Consequently highly qualified Systems Analysts (especially with SAP and SQL skills) can name their price. Lucky them!

For Analyst Programmers and Desktop Network support roles the news wasn’t as good. Although Analyst Programmers are in a much larger market with respect to the jobs filled this year, it takes only 10 days to fill the role. So the balance in this case is tipped towards employers.

Desktop Network support roles have seen a significant contraction since the GFC and never quite returned to strength. The ‘boom days’ of 2007 saw 1200 placements in a year and this has dropped to 200 placements to date (remembering that the data represents a15% of ITCRA Members). In this instance there are plenty of people with Desktop Network skills without enough roles to employ them all.

So in the first example we have a significant skills shortage. In the second two examples we appear to have an oversupply of skills.

So why are all three roles listed on the SOL when, based on this data, we only have a skills shortage in Systems Analysts? Clearly there are other factors at play – which is why the political minefield that is “skills shortage” can become so emotive when only one set of data is the driver.

And secondly, is readjusting the SOL the only answer here to the demand and supply skills gap? Are there other levers we can use to affect labour supply and demand?

And so once again I ask the question: let’s look longer term here. There appears, on face value, to be an oversupply of people skilled in Desktop Network and Analyst Programming. Shouldn’t we be looking to focus their attention in the skills the market needs? What transferable skills do they have that can be updated or tweaked for a different sector or role? (I don’t mean retraining to become Systems Analysts but to roles where their skills could be easily be upgraded).

Similarly, what about building a stronger base of Systems Analysts in Australia? Or perhaps a skills transfer, up-skilling program, skills fast track program could be created that would see those people with base level Systems Analyst skills accelerated to the level the market needs.

ITCRA is currently working with the IT Institute to review the courses available, the upskilling and skills transfer that could be considered and, accepting that the ITCRA resources are not the only factors at play in this discussion, it is early days yet.

I am proud to say however that we have real time indicative numbers to quickly identify market changes, we are working with disengaged talent, through The IT Institute, to have “courses in demand” to reflect “skills in demand”. Combined with the work of ITCRA Members to manage talent into roles and Burning Glass to identify where roles are on offer (and the qualifications required) I am hoping the formula provides for some strong outcomes.

So, tracking the career paths of the first 200 graduates from The IT Institute will be an exciting adventure!