IT job market up: ACS

Unemployment in the ICT sector is at its lowest in years now at 5.1 percent, according to a survey conducted by the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

The survey – based on responses from ACS members – found that there was a 7.3 percent decrease in the unemployment rate reported by members since 2003 with 67 percent of respondents indicating they had not experienced any period of unemployment over the past five years, the ACS said.

It also found that 69.5 percent of respondents were employed full time (more than 35 hours per week) and 90 percent said they had undertaken some form of training over the past three years.

Around 50 percent of respondents had worked more than ten years in the ICT industry in Australia and there was a correlation between age and functional responsibility, indicating that younger respondents are more commonly in development and implementation of technical support and maintenance.

Twenty percent of respondents indicated that they were discriminated against on the basis of their age while 11 percent of respondents claimed they were discriminated against based on their race and ethnicity.

Further, 37 percent of female respondents felt they had been victims of gender discrimination, compared to only 1.3 percent of males, the ACS said.

The national unemployment average is 4.8 percent as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.