IT execs: job hunting?

Demand for IT executives in Australia has hit a 'flat spot', according to an executive demand index released today.

Executive recruitment firm E.L Consult's executive demand index found that demand for IT executives slipped five percent in June, compared with the previous month.

Grant Montgomery, managing director at E.L Consult, believes that a lot of focus had gone off IT this month, because of the end of the financial year.

"I think it's fairly steady as it goes for awhile," Montgomery said. "[It's] improved from the bottom by quite a lot -- about a 25 percent improvement from the very lowest point ... but it's not a highly vibrant sector overall."
 
However, Montgomery added that there seemed to be a fair amount of government spending on IT.

In the firm's summary of the IT index findings, it stated that government sector performance was positive, which had been helped by "a significant increase in Victoria's business sector demand and gains in Western Australia and Queensland".

This is in line with the overall trends E.L Consult found across a range of industry sectors. "In the government sector budgets are likely to be cut if not spent, so bureaucrats are spending," Montgomery said.

"Based on an average of $100,000 annual salary for these positions, that's an extra $10.9 million-worth of new government jobs in June over May," he said. Across all sectors its executive demand index rose an aggregate seven percent in June, compared to the previous month.

In related news, recruitment firm Olivier released its Internet Job Index for June today. It found that IT and telecommunications had 80.72 percent more job ads than the same period last year.

Robert Olivier, a director at the Olivier Group, said it was a fantastic job market for passive job seekers to explore. "Those people who've been stuck in their jobs should realise that it's now a booming market where their skills could be in demand," Olivier said.