IT&T employment sentiment slightly softer

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 04 October 2006 21:36

IT People - Enterprise

IT&T industry employment sentiment was down 1.7% for the December 2006 quarter according to new survey. However, the recruitment outlook remains strong.

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The Australian information technology sector has recorded the second highest level of employer optimism of all industries, according to the latest Hudson Report Employment Expectations survey released by recruiter Hudson.

The survey of 7,410 employers nationally by Hudson showed that almost one in two employers in the IT industry plan to increase permanent staff levels during the December ’06 quarter (48.2%), while 4.5% expect to reduce staffing levels, translating to a net effect of +43.7%. The results represent a marginal 1.7 percentage point (pp) decline from the previous quarter, but a 4.9 pp increase from the April – June ’06 quarter, and a 7.6 pp rise in sentiment from 12 months ago.

IT employer sentiment is the strongest in the Australian Capital Territory, with 63.9% of employers expecting to increase staff in the IT sector, and 8.3% to decrease staff levels, translating to a net effect of +55.6%.

The survey also found that 44.1% of employers surveyed nationally in the telecommunications sector plan to take on more staff over the next three months, while 6.3% expect to decrease staff, reflecting a net effect of +37.8%. While the result represents a 0.1 pp decrease from the previous quarter, it is a 15.8 pp improvement on the April – June ’06 quarter and a substantial 21.1 pp gain on the January – March ’06 quarter.