Hays Information Technology - April 2007

Private Sector

Hotspots

• .NET analyst programmers at the medium to senior level: these skills are required for web application development, mainly in C#, SQL Server and OO programming principles. With .NET2 becoming increasingly popular, many candidates are becoming certified in this new technology. Hence a lot of companies are changing from their original platform to a .NET platform to meet supply. For example, the ColdFusion platform is being phased out because there are very few solid ColdFusion developers available and those that are available charge a high amount. Companies would rather change their platform to .NET or Java and easily find strong candidates to develop and maintain their systems for a longer period. Despite this, good .NET candidates are hard to find and a lot of .NET candidates lack local commercial experience.
• Java/J2EE developers with experience in Struts and Hibernate: Java is becoming increasingly popular due to its flexibility and integration with Web Services, yet there is a shortage of quality intermediate developers with these skills.
• Test analysts at the medium to senior levels: Automation end-to-end testing with rational tools or mercury tools is in demand, while there is increased requirements for testers in the Brisbane market as we approach the end of financial year and projects near completion.
• Infrastructure and development project managers: These candidates are required to manage the projects invested in.
• Business analysts: There has been continuing demand for business analysts, both on a contract and a permanent basis. Organisations appear to be placing greater emphasis on recruiting staff who can bridge the gap between IT and the business, in particular those who are effective at gathering business requirements. Combined with increased project activity, for example projects for the replacement of legacy systems, organisations have been seeking quality business analysts as a key part of their project teams.
• Business intelligence analysts (business objects and cognos): DataWarehousing and business intelligence tools are now standard in many businesses and the tools are now seen as a must for accurate reporting to management.
• IP telephony: This new technology is being adopted at a quick pace, thus requiring skilled candidates.
• ERP consultants (oracle and 2nd tier products): This hotspot is focused in Perth, where a large number of ERP consultancies are opening, which has increased the demand for skilled staff.

The coming quarter

Temporary recruitment will dominate the IT recruitment market over the coming quarter. For some employers hiring depends on budget approval in light of overspending this financial year, hence temporary recruitment is an attractive solution. For others pressure to complete projects by deadlines will heat contract requirements, while for still others hiring intentions are dependent upon progress with new shared services models and project funds available in the budget for 2006/2007. In other sectors, confidence appears to remains steady.

Executive recruitment

The demand for executives in the IT sector is relatively low. The local market has significant numbers of senior IT professionals looking for a senior position, however fewer opportunities are available for them. The exception is Brisbane where project managers, programme managers and business analysts are in demand due to the number of large projects currently underway. In addition a number of integration projects require business analysts.

Salaries

A small rise in salaries is expected over the next quarter due to the candidate short market. Many companies are willing to offer a higher salary to secure their preferred candidate and to outbid another permanent employment offer to the candidate. Similarly, we are experiencing more counter offers in relation to permanent recruitment as employers make large increases to keep current staff.

However salaries for contracting roles are not as flexible, with companies prepared to wait a little longer to secure a suitable candidate rather than increase the hourly rate. Despite this, candidates can still increase their earning potential through contract roles and candidates are increasingly looking at this option.

Candidate trends

In a positive trend, overall candidate flow has improved. There are still shortages, and certain candidates such as those listed in the hotspots above remain in short supply. In addition, there has been a large decrease in candidate supply for ColdFusion programmers, despite its popularity in America. Due to an oversupply of candidates several years ago, many ColdFusion programmers moved into .NET, which has created a shortage today of the remaining ColdFusion programmers.

With wider choice available to them, candidates are becoming increasingly selective. The ability for organisations to make decisions quickly and to effectively sell their culture and opportunities to prospective candidates is key to securing talent. Work/life balance increasingly appears to be a key motivator and selling point for many candidates at all levels of experience.

Candidate availability at entry level has increased. For example, there are numerous candidates with up to one year relevant experience for first level service desk or desktop support positions, however a shortage of candidates with the desired level of two or more years experience. Organisations are therefore showing greater flexibility when recruiting and a willingness to take on less experienced candidates and train and develop them.