NSW Govt commences IT workforce review

The NSW Government has kicked off a review of its ICT staff and contract jobs in a bid to align the workforce with its three-year ICT strategy.

The strategy was unveiled by the Department of Finance and Services in May, after 11 months of planning and consultation with agencies and the industry.

The department told industry last week that it had commenced a series of initiatives – including designing a private cloud pilot and embarking on the workforce review – as planned.

The review was expected to map the ICT functions and activities within NSW Government agencies for a two- to five-year timeframe by the end of this calendar year.

Finance Minister Greg Pearce told iTnews that the review would not result in job cuts but was intended to produce “better, more interesting jobs” for public servants.

“Across government, we are on course to really improve the way that the public sector works,” Pearce said.

“With the new public service commissioner we’ve appointed, we’re really looking at how we can make public servants deliver better, more transparently and more productively.

“We’re working through looking at how we improve the quality, standards and resources for our staff.”

The State Government planned to partner with industry associations to develop ICT accreditation and training programs early next year, according to its ICT Strategy document.

It planned to develop a workforce strategy encompassing accreditation frameworks, employment arrangements and recruitment by the third quarter of 2013.