Seven percent of IT employers have plans to downsize over the November to January quarter, which is more than offset by the 27.3 percent expecting to hire new staff, with a net result of 20.3 percent. This represents a fall from the previous quarter, when a net of 26 percent of IT companies indicated they had plans to hire more staff, but an increase over the same period last year, when the figure was only 11.5 percent.
The IT sector is expected to be one of the largest provider of job opportunities, with a net 5.8 percent increase in IT positions expected to be created. Not surprisingly, the majority of IT employers (75.7 percent) indicated that online advertising was more effective than print advertising when looking for potential employees, compared to an average of 58.9 percent across all the industries. IT employers also rely on employee referrals, with 51.8 percent of IT companies indicating they had incentive programs in place to encourage staff hire via employee referrals.
Of the States, Queensland IT companies are the most optimistic, with a net 36.4 percent indicating they plan to hire additional staff over the coming three months. However, in the previous quarter a net of 50 percent of Queensland IT companies indicated they had plans to hire staff. South Australia is the next in line, with a net of 33 percent of companies indicating they planned to hire more people, which was the same as last quarter.
On the negative side, IT companies in the ACT recorded the lowest optimism level of a net of 12.8 percent employers planning on increasing staff, which was an increase of 6.2 percent over the previous quarter, although a fall of 21.5 percent over the same quarter last year.
The Job Index Survey, by recruitment company TMP Worldwide, surveyed 5,823 employers across Australia.
