Despite job indexes showing an increase in positions in some parts of the IT sector, the general mood about the outlook is still cautious.
Grant Montgomery, managing director at job search company E.L Consult, which puts together an index of demand in the executive recruitment market across a range of industries, is predicting there may be a pickup in the new financial year, which got underway today.
Montgomery revealed that it had recorded a 15 percent increase in demand for IT executives over the previous month, in its executive recruitment index which is due to be released on Wednesday.
There had been a rise in June over almost every sector, he said.
Montgomery reiterated comments he made to ZDNet Australia late May, that an upward trend is likely to happen at some stage in Australia's IT sector, because demand is way below where it should be.
He said it was starting to see an improvement, but that it was still hard to say whether or not there would be a sustained rise over the next two or three quarters.
Confidence people have in auditing could have an impact, particularly in the IT sector, following revelations about accounting practices in well-known companies such as Enron and WorldCom, Montgomery said.
-The IT industry more than any other sector relies on innovation capital--on future promises--so is most vulnerable to lack of investor confidence."
Recruitment company Olivier Recruitment Group recorded a drop of 1.4 percent across all sectors in its Internet Job Index for June, released yesterday.
-The financial troubles of some big American companies are ominousââ,¬"they'll inevitably have some repercussions here," Robert Olivier, a director at the recruitment agency, said in a statement about the June Index results.
Robert Olivier predicts that the troubles WorldCom is experiencing in the US may yet have an impact on Australia's IT&T sector.
The multimedia, Internet and graphic design sectors experienced the greatest drops in Olivier's index this month.
However, Robert Olivier also said it had seen optimism in the local market, and believed there was pent-up demand from people who wanted to find new roles.
