International human resources company, Kelly Services, said the new class of "super kids" is a natural by-product of the IT revolution.
"We're now getting in to a generation that's comfortable with technology because they've been using it from very early in the piece," said Diane Ward, managing director, Kelly Services Australia.
E.L. Consult, managing director, Grant Montgomery said there is no age bias in the industry, but agreed that younger workers have an edge when it comes to gaining employment in IT.
"The new entrants to the industry have not been spoiled by the very high pay rates and the large number of jobs that the older people are accustomed to," he said.
Young IT workers, Montgomery said, are favoured because their skills are the most up-to-date in the market. They're also more realistic about the level of competition and what pay rates they should accept.
"The IT industry changes so rapidly that residual knowledge doesn't have as high a value in the IT marketplace," he said.
According to Montgomery, the number of executive positions supported by the IT industry has fallen dramatically since 1998, from 27 percent to its current level of 3.7 percent.
But the news is not all gloom for the older heads in the IT industry.
Ward believes that older IT professionals have moved on to become small business entrepreneurs, thus benefiting from the smaller payrolls that come with the super kid generation.
The survey questioned 800 Australian youths, aged between 15 and 24, about their attitudes to the workplace.
There is one other reason to consider why they are in flavour. The IT managers themselves.
99% of IT managers that i have met, are just managers with little or no IT experience or knowledge, and as such are only familiar with the big names (ie M$, INTEL).
With the older, more experienced techs, they tend to have a better idea of what works reliably, and securely, rather than relying on verdor B$.
Management approves the purchase of systems as reccomended by vendor. Systems fall over regularly due to poor coding. Top management demands answers, tech responds with truth, IT management looks foolish.
So management starts looking for a result that would redeem himself. Easy, get rid of the staff "causing problems" and hire a bunch of kids who have only ever experinced the point and drool operating system.
Not a flight of fancy, not M$ bashing, just fact.
I know, i was said tech.