Gershon reforms hammer ACT tech jobs: Olivier

James Riley
Sunday, 04 October 2009 12:00

IT People - Training

Job opportunities in Australia continued to surge during September with the number of job advertisements climbing more than 3.5 per cent, according to the latest Olivier Job Index numbers from recruitment firm Olivier Group.

But while the rising index paints an optimistic picture of an economy in recovery, the signals during September are mixed for the IT sector.

Despite modest growth for the sector nationwide, Olivier says IT job ads in the Canberra market were down more than 20 per cent for the month – a direct result, it says, of Gershon Review reforms.

As part of the Gershon Review recommendations, the Australian Government Information Management Organisation (AGIMO) is reducing the numbers of federal government contractors – attracting existing contractors to move in-house. More than 200 contractors have been eliminated this year.

Engineering jobs have also been hit in the ACT, down more than 21 per cent in September, Olivier reports.

But that’s where the bad news ends. Olivier Group executive director Bob Olivier says there is pent up demand from employers who don’t want to get left behind in securing talent as the economy picks up – and that’s good news for graduates.

IT jobs for graduates were up 74 per cent in September, and are now at about half the level they were at a year ago – a huge turnaround compared to even a few months ago.

With three months of rising index, Bob Olivier says the signs are good that the economy continues to strengthen. Not only was the volume of job ads increasing, but the "velocity" in filling vacant positions was accelerating.

"This mirrors our experience in 2002 when, after 9/11, SARS and the Tech Wreck, the employment market picked up to a speed and extent that surprised everyone," Olivier said.

"As recruiters, we're surprised at the speed that people are now hiring. The difficulties of what it was like filling positions during the shortages is still fresh in people's mind."

Week by week analysis of the Job Index numbers shows growth every week during September.

"Even if we stayed at the level of the last week, we'd be reporting growth again for October," Olivier said.