ACS Survey Shows Full-time Employment Finally on the Rise in ICT Sector

ICT unemployment remains almost twice the national rate

Monday 23 February 2004 - The ACS (Australian Computer Society) ) today released the results of its annual Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Employment Survey for 2003, revealing significant improvement in employment levels for ICT professionals.

The 2003 Survey shows full-time employment grew from 60.8 per cent to 64.7 per cent of respondents - a rise of nearly 4 percentage points. Unemployment in the ICT sector is falling at more than double the rate of overall labour market, however the overall rate remains extremely high when compared to the national unemployment figure of 5.7 per cent - particularly amongst those aged under 25. (The Survey shows unemployment within the ICT sector has reduced by 1.8 percentage points from 2002 levels to 10.6 per cent in 2003. The national unemployment rate averaged 6.3 per cent in 2002.)

The results were drawn from a survey of ACS members on a range of employment-related issues. The ACS is Australia's largest body for ICT professionals and represents an ICT sector that comprises around 218,000 core-professionals and accounts for approximately 10 per cent of GDP.

Other 2003 Employment Survey findings include:

• A greater than average unemployment amongst those respondents aged under 25 (a group which captures the ICT university graduates). This age group has experienced
• an increase in unemployment of 4.7 percentage points from 7.4 per cent to 12.1 per cent in 2003.
• Unemployment fell nearly 8 percentage points to 5.4 per cent among those respondents classifying themselves as business analysts. This could suggest a flow on effect for other areas of private sector ICT employment.
• The worst affected skill sets remain programmers at 18 per cent (down from 20 per cent in 2002) and project managers, who remained almost static at 19.6 per cent. Both these roles are potentially impacted by the growing trend to offshore software projects.
• Over 80 per cent of respondents expressed their dissatisfaction with recruitment agencies, reporting an average, poor or abysmal experience. They found the Internet followed by "word of mouth" were the most effective vehicles for job referral opportunities.
• A significant fall in the number of female respondents reporting they were unemployed - from 12.3 per cent to 6.3 per cent.

Commenting on the results, ACS President Edward Mandla said:

"There are some promising trends illustrated in this report, which support our belief that the ICT sector as a whole will continue to experience better than national rates of employment growth in the coming twelve months. However unemployment levels remain unacceptably high.

"The dynamics of the ICT industry are currently very complex with many forces working both for and against it. Offshoring and an increasing ICT deficit work against it. Open Source Software and increased government/large corporate spending on projects work for it.

"Overall we have a barometer that is currently positive. Most vendors are reporting that quotations and proposal for ICT projects are the largest in two years and the projects are much larger. If this trend continues it could lead to certain skill shortages.

"It's a good time to be thinking about ICT as a career and the research demonstrates ICT professionals must continually modernise their skills. However, the response to recruitment agencies in the survey is deeply concerning. The data suggests that the ACS ought to build closer relationships with recruitment companies and consider branding, certifying, investing in, setting-up or acquiring a recruitment company.

"ICT has always been a tough career to crack. The industry works on short cycles and often prefers to raid experienced employees from another organisation than train their own. Every ICT professional can tell you a great story of how they got a break into the industry. Every IT graduate has to be patient and work hard to get their first break. Therefore they should try and get whatever relevant experience they can," he said.

The ACS is committed to providing comprehensive information on employment prospects for ICT professionals. The 2003 employment survey continues that tradition, providing a wealth of detail which is not available through other surveys.

The 2003 research is based on a survey of ACS members on a range of employment-related issues. The survey was conducted by Peter Hind, an ICT Industry analyst, and the results were reviewed by economic consultants, Access Economics.** Mr Hind also manages IDC's annual Forecast for Management survey of CIOs.

The 2003 survey results were drawn from a sample share of roughly 4.8 per cent of the ACS membership, which compares favourably to the ABS labour force survey sample share of approximately 0.4 per cent. According to Access Economics, "The sample share from the ACS survey is much higher than the ABS equivalents. On that basis, the ACS can make some statements more confidently about its membership than the ABS can about the general population."**

** Access Economics provided the ACS with professional advice in how to interpret results from the ACS employment survey. Access Economics was not involved in survey design or tabulation of results.

This media release is available on the ACS Web site at http://www.acs.org.au/news/230204.htm

The full report is available online at http://www.acs.org.au/attachments/03employsurvey4public.pdf

ENDS

The ACS (Australian Computer Society) is the recognised professional association for those working in Information and Communications Technology, seeking to raise the standing of ICT professionals and represent their views to government, industry and the community. A member of the Australian Council of Professions, the ACS is the guardian of professional ethics and standards in the ICT sector, committed to ensuring the beneficial use of ICT for all Australians. It provides both members and non-members with opportunities for professional education, networking and certification, as well as enabling them to contribute to the development of their profession. Visit www.acs.org.au for more information.

ACS - ICT Professionals Shaping our Future

Media Enquiries:

Edward Mandla, ACS National President, Tel: (02) 8257 1760, Email: edwardm@acslink.net.au

Caroline New, ACS PR Consultant, Tel: (02) 9555 1986 or (0411) 889 456, Email: cnew@bigpond.com