The Recruitment Industry Benchmark report which has been compiled for the first half of 2012 found that in contrast, general recruiters’ gross profits held steady over the first six months of the year. However the report’s authors note that traditionally ICT recruitment is more profitable than general recruitment – and the 5 per cent fall follows fairly strong profitability in recent times.
The RIB report has been presented to members of ITCRA (the IT the IT Contracting and Recruitment Association) to allow them, for the first time, to compare their performance with the broader recruitment market. However it is important to note that the findings are based on a sample of 117 recruitment companies, just nine of which identify as IT recruitment companies.
The companies polled are also all privately held, rather than listed. Despite its limitations, over time the benchmark report should provide a snapshot of how ICT recruitment is faring compared to the broader headhunting marketplace.
This first report shows that in the first six months while permanent general recruitment dropped 5 per cent, IT recruitment plunged 14 per cent. In contracts the difference was even starker with general contracts up 4 per cent in the first half of 2012, compared to an 11 per cent IT contract drop off.
ICT professionals aren’t the only ones feeling the squeeze. The Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday released a report showing that Australia’s unemployment rate rose to 5.4 per cent in September – to set that in context the number of people unemployed increased by 38,800 to 662,700 people in September.
Certainly the IT market is generally accepted to be fairly well balanced between supply and demand with scant talk of skills shortages. Skills mismatches however persist, and in a separate initiative ITRCA has announced it has formed a partnership with professional development specialist Prolearn and OAMPS Life Solutions to offer training programmes for ICT contractors.
In the initial phase of the programme 15 contractors based in Victoria will be offered the chance to study with Prolearn for a Diploma of ICT marketing. Costs will be borne by Federal and State training subsidies and OAMPS according to ITCRA.
