The Olivier job index revealed IT & T job ads slumped only 4.5 per cent from November 2002 to December, with the outcome representing a 31.2 per cent slide from December 2001 and becoming the lowest level since the index began in 1999. It is not all bad news, however, as the IT&T sector outperformed the index of all positions, which slumped 8.2 percent in December 2002 relative to November.
"This is the first time in a very very long time that IT&T has performed better than the traditional sectors," Olivier Recruitment Director Robert Olivier told ZDNet Australia . "Twelve months ago was an all-time low for the index, everything but IT hit rock bottom, but IT&T continued going down."
Due largely to seasonal factors, the number of job advertisements usually slumps sharply in December over previous months. However, the overall index's slide was lower this year than in previous years. The index slid 27.3 percent in December 2001 over the previous month and 17.7 percent in December 2000 over the previous month. Olivier said it was a good sign that the IT&T sector had outperformed other sectors at a time when those other sectors had declined to a lesser extent than in previous years.
However, he refused to be drawn in on whether 2003 would at last see the turnaround in the IT industry that has been widely predicted for the past six months.
"I'm wary of giving [the IT jobs market] any bullish calls, but it was a surprisingly good result for IT," said Olivier, adding that December and January are too exposed to seasonal factors provide a sound basis for analysis. "February is the first month that has any sort of meaningful [results], that's when the market picks up again."
The number of positions in the hardware and engineering systems areas actually increased, as did the number of positions advertised in the instruction, training and writing areas, in December 2002 over the previous month.
