Tips to improve your salary
Information Technology in Sydney
Demand for technology professionals continued to be strong in
2006 across all of our key markets. IT professionals who can
demonstrate robust technical skills along with business acumen
and excellent communication skills are in high demand and
Sydney continues to attract a lot of interest from overseas
candidates. This year we saw consistent levels of skilled
migration from Europe and Asia, and an increase in skilled
migration from South America. We saw fewer IT graduates
entering the market in 2006 than we did in 2005 and the effects
of this are likely to add to the skills shortage in the next few
years. A significant change we witnessed in 2006 was an
increase in the number of businesses that welcomed speculative
applications from candidates with relevant skills sets. Savvy
businesses have been keen to create roles for people that they
know they will need in the coming months, rather than hoping
those skills will still be available down the track.
During the year, many organisations were faced with retention
issues, as employees' confidence in the job market continued to
increase. Employers have also found the job market increasingly
competitive with quality candidates receiving multiple job offers
and counter offers from existing employers. Permanent
candidates cited working environment, company culture, cutting
edge technology and salary as the most important deciding
factors when accepting a job offer, whereas contractors cited
rate, cutting edge technologies and length of contract as the
most important factors.
In the financial sector, a joint venture between a European
investment bank and a major Australian financial brand created
considerable contract and permanent opportunities for
developers, testers, business analysts and project managers
with previous financial services and/or banking experience. The
demand for IT banking professionals is set to increase further as
a major Australian bank begins its expansion into the Eastern
States.
The major telecommunication companies continued to recruit
permanent and contract staff in a bid to ensure the success of
major projects including 3G. Sydney is also the hub of the
southern hemisphere's largest infrastructure project, in excess of
$60m, which has fuelled the demand for infrastructure
engineers. This project is likely to increase the demand for SOE
and desktop engineers throughout 2007, as well as integration
engineers and project managers.
Attraction and retention of staff will continue to be a key issue
for businesses in 2007. The market looks set to continue to be
candidate short and this is likely to have an inflationary effect on
salaries and contract rates, but those organisations that offer
leading-edge technologies and stimulating, positive work
environments are most likely to enjoy good levels of staff
retention and attraction. Organisations that have a proactive
approach to recruitment, are responsive to applications, and
which appeal to passive as well as active candidates are likely to
be the most successful recruiters in 2007.