An upward trend is likely to happen at some stage because demand is way below where it should be, according to executive search firm E.L Consult's managing director Grant Montgomery.
Figures for the IT sector in May showed a 26 percent increase over the previous month, across all states. The report also predicted that the sector appeared to have reached a short-term bottom, but that demand increases were still hesitant along with international spending patterns on IT.
Montgomery said the IT sector had gone well below it's base level, considering it used to be the biggest sector in E.L Consult's monthly index of demand in executive recruitment, making up about 27 percent of the total market.
He said that in addition to the tech wreck, the IT sector had suffered more than other areas of the economy post September 11.
-It's too quick to say that this is a long-term upward trend, but it's got to happen sometime because it's way below what it should be," Montgomery said. -You're not going to reinvent the e-economy but you're going to find that companies have far more IT needs long term."
Montgomery said, more generally, that it looked as if there would be an upturn in the economy either in the second or third quarter this year across the board. However, he warned that there were also a few issues Australian businesses would have to face as a result, such as the strengthening dollar.
