ITWire

In its latest quarterly report on the ICT jobs market, the Information Technology Contract and Recruitment Association (ITCRA), says that the skills mismatch in the ICT industry has continued to ease.

According to Julie Mills, CEO of ITCRA, the drop in the number of suitable candidates reflects a drop in participation rate in the overall Australian labour market, and the association’s quarterly SkillsMatch dashboard showed that there were, on average, six suitable candidates for each role advertised in the second quarter of this year - a drop from the peak of eight available candidates in the first quarter.

“The most recent ABS labour market data showed the participation rate was down to 65.2 per cent, from 65.4 per cent in May, and the SkillsMatch data reflects this.

“Interestingly, despite the drop in the number of suitable candidates, the availability of candidates with in-demand skills has risen, indicating there has been a further aligning of the ICT skills market.”

Mills says that candidates are now offering six of the top ten skills employers are looking for, up from five of the top ten in the first quarter of 2012, and “well above the 2011 low, where only two of the top ten requested skills were available.”

“The increase in candidates with skills that employers need indicates that the skills mismatch is continuing to ease as job seekers are becoming more responsive to demand in the market.”

However, Mills said some skills sets continued to remain elusive and SAP, 3G Modelling Systems, Infrastructure and Testing had all been in the top ten skills in demand since the start of 2012, and had not yet made the top ten available skills.

ITCRA reports that 3G Modelling Systems skills were hardest to find, with only 23 per cent of roles requiring this skill being filled in the second quarter. “Although this is up 10 per cent from last quarter, it remains an area of opportunity for job seekers if they are willing to retrain,” Mills suggests.

ITCRA’s SkillsMatch also shows that 73 per cent of ICT placements made in the second quarter of 2012 were for contract roles, while only a third were for permanent roles, with Mills observing that
the growing split between contract roles and permanent positions was a function of a nervous market being affected by global economic uncertainty. “Many companies are reluctant to hire permanently in this environment, and continue to look for contractors for most ICT projects,” Mills says.