Demand for ICT jobs slows

Analysis by the Australian Government points to a softening of demand for ICT professionals, suggesting that employers are anxious about the health of global markets.

The Department of Employment Education and Workplace Relations' latest skilled internet vacancy indices (IVI) indicated that demand for ICT professionals in the public sector dropped 20.8 percent over the last 12 months, three times higher than the overall drop in demand for other professionals of 6.7 percent.

The Skilled IVI measures ICT vacancies from Jan 2006 to Nov 2011.

Acknowledged as a strong two-month leading indicator of employment growth, DEEWR reports that continued decline in internet advertising suggests that employment growth will remain subdued in the coming months, reflecting the uncertain outlook for the global economy.

Total ICT Professional vacancies for Australia stood at 12,749 for November 2011.

A five year perspective of vacancies for all states and the ACT shows ICT jobs are well down on a peak period around January 2008. DEEWR set a base index as 100 for the number of employment ads in January 2006, and noted that in January 2008 the number of vacancies peaked at 157 (or 57 percent higher).

There was a second smaller spike in January 2011, registering an overall index of 105.5. 

The most recent index for November 2011 shows that there is still strong demand in Canberra, South Australia and Western Australia.

The jobs market is most soft in NSW whose lower vacancy index of 68.1 is shown to be dragging down the national figures.