According to the latest figures from the E.L. Executive Demand Index, private sector demand for IT executives rose 78 percent in April compared to March, due mainly to gains in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia. Grant Montgomery, managing director of E.L. Consult, told ZDNet Australia the figure is significant because it is large, but points out it comes off a very low base.
"The trend is there, there's no question of that, and the trend is sufficiently there for us to be bullish about it increasing over the rest of the year," said Montgomery.
However, the sharp rise in private sector demand was not enough to completely offset the fall in demand in the public sector in most states, resulting in an overall fall in month-on-month demand of nine percent. Public sector demand fell for cyclical reasons, with many states finishing their budgets in March, while a couple of state elections also had an adverse effect, according to Montgomery.
This nine percent fall follows a period of steep increase in demand for IT executives, which increased by 26 percent in March over February, and 46 percent in February over January. The Index is now at levels similar to those of the first half of 2002, according to E.L. Consult.
"The private sector is strong and a better indicator of where the market is going. For the whole quarter now it's been slowly and surely getting back on its feet," said Montgomery. "It's a very good time to buy IT executive assets, because they've lost their ridiculously high prices they were paid years ago, and they've lost their attitude."
The Index for national executive demand fell by six percent in April over March, following gains of more than 24 percent in the previous two months.
"The demand for executives rose sharply in February and March so a pull-back in April was to be expected in an environment dominated by the conquest of Iraq and the SARS virus," said Montgomery.
