Jobsharing key to keeping ICT staff says report

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 22 February 2006 16:44

IT People - Enterprise

Australia’s current skills shortage combined with an ageing workforce will force employers to offer jobsharing options to ICT staff if they want to keep them, according to a new report. However, the majority of Australian ICT employers still have not got the message.

The survey across 18 core industry groups, conducted by HR firm Hudson, polled more than 8,000 Australian employers, finding that 88% of those providing a jobshare program in the ICT sector believe it has improved their ability to attract and retain employees; the national average across all industries is also 88%.

Other key findings:

• Only 29% of Australian IT&T employers currently provide a jobshare program to staff Jobsharing, which involves two (or more) individuals working in a part-time capacity to fulfil one full-time position, while gaining traction in Europe and America, is still relatively under-used in Australia. The ICT sector lags behind the national average across all industries by 11 percentage points (national average:
40%).

• 48% of IT&T employers and 73% of all job seekers surveyed would consider jobsharing as a work option, now or in the future. This is below the national average of all employers who would consider jobsharing which is 52%

• 71% of those IT&T employers who would not consider jobsharing believed their role wouldn’t be suitable for sharing; 19% did not know how jobsharing could be applied in their personal circumstance; 10% said they have seen jobsharing poorly implemented in the past The findings of the Hudson Report research highlight some of the misconceptions about jobsharing, which in most cases are due to a failure of organisations to pro-actively and effectively integrate jobsharing as a work option through an effective change management plan.

Vilma Faoro, national practice leader for Hudson JobShare said, "This research demonstrates that organisations should seriously consider the concept of jobsharing as a real solution to the growing pressure to retain staff in the current skills shortage."