According to Robert Olivier, a director of the Olivier Recruitment Group which compiles the research the latest figures are part of a general trend which has seen a 44.4 percent decrease in jobs on the net over the past 12 months.
Olivier pointed out that we may not yet have seen the worst of it, with the economy moving into the traditional Christmas stasis following the upcomming Federal election.
-I don't think we will see any pick up until February next year," Olivier said.
Olivier's figures for the month of October show a marked reduction jobs in the Advertising and Media fields, which suffered a fall or 28.1 percent, as well as areas such as Hospitality, Tourism and Travel.
Other industry pundits believe the IT job squeeze may have finally hit the wall, although they warn the boom salaries are unlikely to be replaced, even in the mid term. Bal Gill, managing director of IT recruitment specialists SoftWork People pointed out that many of the staff cuts in Australia have been driven by a slow down in the US and European economies.
-We have seen many of the larger multinationals simply cut back on staff due to an order from above, many have now made those contractions so we may be seeing the end of it," Gill said. -At the moment my books are full of fantastic people who simply don't have the same options in terms of salary as they did a year ago." Many in the industry are focussing on the results of the November 10 Federal election, however many are divided as to the implications of a potential change of government.
-A Labor win could certainly stimulate the local IT industry, as they are clearly interested in the benefits a strong IT sector would bring to the rest of the economy," Gill said.
Olivier on the other hand is sceptical as to the tangible benefits of the Labor party's IT policies.
-We will certainly see growth in the academic sector," Olivier said. -But the extent to which that can be converted into solid commercial growth has yet to be seen."
