A drop in the number of hires during the recession period has resulted in a skills shortage in the Australian ICT industry, particularly in mid-level management.
According to Hays Information Technology regional director Peter Noblet, companies focused on developing their already-existing staff during the recession, rather than hiring graduates for entry-level positions. “As a result, organisations are not only at risk of being top-heavy, but they will soon struggle to find candidates at the mid-level with around three years experience,” says Noblet, as quoted by Computerworld.
Noblet adds that “the recruitment battle for this mid band will intensify and moving forward companies will find themselves under pressure to promote and up-skill quickly to fill and replace that lost layer in their workforce.”
The same opinion is shared by Peoplebank’s chief executive officer, Peter Acheson, who expects skills shortages to be back “by the end of this calendar year”.
“We’re already starting to see some of the emerging characteristics of the skills shortage, which are increases in salaries, competition for staff – competitors actually going after their competitors staff so there will be some real challenges for employers,” comments Acheson.
