More women, more flexibility needed in IT

Lia Timson
Thursday, 08 May 2008 09:28

IT People - Enterprise

The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) Generation F: Attract, Engage, Retain report sponsored by recruitment agency Hays, says despite record education levels and greater female participation in the labour market, employers are still not providing enough incentive for women to work.

The study found both women and men want more work-life balance, but women are not prepared to put up with a lack of it, with some resigning as a consequence.
Over a third of women left their last job because of a frustrating lack of career progression, learning opportunities and flexibility.

The study involved 1600 men and women across industries nationally, but Hays information technology regional director, Peter Noblet, says it is particularly true of the IT&T sector.

“It gives credence to the feeling that women are even more under-represented in IT,” Noblet says.

He says employers are trying to address the imbalance, however, hiring women when possible and trying to address flexibility. The problem is there’s also a technical skill shortage among them.

“A lot of companies we talk to ask if there are women available that can fill the job. I think they are trying to get the balance right, but in IT there’s a shortage of women anyway,” he says.

When available, the majority tend to be type-cast into “softer skills” roles where people liaison and communications are priority such as in customer service, help desk and project management.

There’s good news for women, though, as employers are “happy to employ on attitude” increasingly giving them time to update or learn the required technical skills on the job, he says.

Courses like the Work Wise Women designed by TAFE NSW Northern Beaches College in Sydney in conjunction with CXC Consultants Exchange go some way towards allowing women to update their IT skills before returning to work after maternity or other leave. CONTINUED PAGE 2