Aust IT&T companies poised for hiring surge: survey

The survey -- which encompassed 6,840 client employers across all sectors -- found that 39.2 percent of the information technology employers surveyed expected to hire during the December quarter, with 52 percent remaining steady and only 8.8 percent expecting to reduce staff.

The consultancy produces a measure called "positive net effect" by subtracting the percentage of respondents expecting to reduce from that expecting to hire -- delivering a "positive net effect" for information technology respondents of 30.5 percent.

In the telecommunications sector, 37.1 percent of client companies expected to hire, with 53.9 percent expecting to remain steady and 9.1 percent forecasting a decline -- producing a positive net effect of 28 percent.

The information technology and telecommunications results boosted the all-industries result to a positive net effect of 23.7 percent, a 4.5 percentage point increase over a July-September survey and arresting the decline in optimism in place since May 2002.

Martin Nicholls, Australian IT&T practise manager, TMP Hudson Global Resources, said The Hudson Report -- which replaces the Job Index Survey, run for the past eight years -- revealed significantly improved hiring intentions over previous survey periods.

Nicholls said the Hudson report compared favourably with a 14.7 percent positive net effect in telecommunications for the July-September quarter, and a 13.9 percent positive net effect in April-June.

In the information technology sector, the 30.5 percent result compared strongly with a 20.8 percent positive net effect for the July-September quarter and a 22.9 percent result for April-June.

Nicholls said information technology and telecommunications were a lead indicator for several other sectors as well, with the strength in recruitment indicating "a lot of companies were starting to invest in new projects again".

He said companies in the sectors were recruiting new salespeople, project managers and business analysts, further indicating the heightened prospects for business.

South Australia recorded a massive positive net effect in the information technology sector of 51.4 percent for the December quarter, outstripping other jurisdictions.