Aussie ICT contractors more in demand than ICT staff

The Australian ICT sector has the strongest contractor employment outlook for any profession, with companies now more likely to hire new ICT contractors than permanent employees.

So say the results of a quarterly survey from recruitment and talent management company Hudson. The survey suggests that 29.4% of Australian organisations plan to hire new ICT contractor staff in the forthcoming June quarter - an increase of two percentage points.

This compares favourably to hiring intentions for contractors among all professions, which increased just 0.7 percentage points to 19.1%.

This marks the first time in recent years that intention to hire ICT contract staff is higher than intention to hire permanent ICT employees, which has declined 3.6 percentage points to 25.2%.

Hudson director for ICT Tim Davis said the main factors influencing this result include continuing nationwide investments in business transformation projects and a trend towards employers being more cautious in their hiring procedures for permanent staff.

The most in-demand IT contractors include project managers, change managers and business analysts. Key skills include software development capabilities as well as the ability to integrate new business solutions into an organisation's existing technology environment.

“In many situations it comes down to having the soft skills to be able to operate and thrive in a changing environment. The ability to operate and communicate with others, to work with competing priorities and to learn new domains are all important competences,” Davis said.

“IT professionals that invest in their own development, keep their certifications up to date and stay abreast of the latest developments are the ones that will find the market to be favourable. Those who can’t learn new skills or resist changes within their organisations are more likely to struggle.”

Image courtesy of Justin Scott Campbell under CC