ICT unemployment double national average: ACS - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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ICT unemployment double national average: ACS

By Staff writers, ZDNet Australia
February 20, 2003
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/ICT-unemployment-double-national-average-ACS/0,139023166,120272235,00.htm

The unemployment rate in the Information and Communications Technology sector is vastly outstripping most other industries, according to a new report released by the Australian Computer Society.

The 2002 ACS ICT Australian Employment Survey has revealed that unemployment in the IT industry is now nearly double the national average, running at 11.9 percent. According to the ACS an alarming 43.7 percent of unemployed ICT workers come from traditionally stable industry sectors of finance and banking.

According to ACS president, Richard Hogg, the survey's outcomes may understate the level of unemployment among ICT workers. Given that people are reticent about revealing their employment status, said Hogg, there may be more unemployment than the survey was able to uncover.

Hogg said the figures cast a great deal of uncertainty over the future of Australia's ICT industry.

"Politicians of all persuasions, including our Prime Minister, have pointed to ICT as being the future, but it will be a bleak future indeed if we don't take steps to revitalise this key industry sector," said Hogg.

Senior and more experienced members of the ICT industry are the worst affected groups. Unemployment is highest in the 36 to 40 and 51 to 55 age bands, running close to 13 percent in each.

Women were the next group singled out by the ACS for attention, with unemployment among female ICT workers 0.4 percent higher than the industry average at 12.3 percent.

The ACS is exploring a number of options to address the unemployment explosion. They include government funding to retrain older ICT workers and the establishment of a national skills register.