Economic uncertainty and the reduction of work abroad has also seen the return of IT professionals to Australia, said Neil Pilkington, IT contracting consultant in Australia at recruitment firm Robert Walters.
Pilkington believes these expat IT workers are returning to Australia when they might not have otherwise, and are increasing the level of expertise available in the local IT contracting market.
However, Bruce Henderson, general manager for Robert Walters in Western Australia, said that IT contracting would always remain a very fluid marketplace, with demand high when there were a large number of contracts underway.
Henderson believes that one of the reasons for increased demand for IT contractors in Western Australia is a result of companies finding that they had cut too many staff in retrenchments. "Then the minute business cycles or activity or projects start to build these organisations then find themselves a little short," he said.
While the number of IT candidates on the market is clearly good for employers, this can lead to tough competition for jobs. "The supply of candidates is not an issue at the moment," Henderson said. "As an IT contractor [employers] are looking at this person's pedigree--the types of environments they've worked in, training and development, certifications and, probably more than ever, the soft skills."
"People clearly want to know the person has contracted and worked in a quality IT environment," he said.
Henderson believes that employers are now also interested in candidate's business skills, and that raw technical skills alone often no longer cut it.
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IT Contracting IS on the increase, as always happens when the market turns. Here's how it works :-
In good times companies invest in IT spending, IT becomes a high cost so companies employ perm staff under the 'perception' that this reduce's costs.
Then when worse times come, IT spending is reduced, there is little project work and some perm staff are retrenched to reduce "headcount" saving costs.
However, as confidence starts to return & the economy starts to look up, companies start spending on IT BUT they still want to maintain a low headcount so the demand for contractors rise.
The difference is, where as 2 years ago contractors were employed and extended until they quit, most contract hires are now to deliver fixed deliverables, generally on a specific project and will stop working at that organisation when that work is completed.
That said, this is still a very good sign for the IT Economy.