IT skills market gets tougher

The current tight IT skills market is set to get even tougher, according to Accenture’s IT recruitment arm Diversiti.

Titled IT Hiring Influence Report 2006, the Diversiti preliminary report found 78 per cent of respondents identified the global competition for skilled IT resources as the greatest impact on the availability of IT labour over the next 12 months.

Diversiti also found 69 per cent of respondents believe retaining talent will be challenge in hiring, closely followed by recruiting the right skill set (63 per cent) and a shortage of skilled candidates (61 per cent).

Also highlighted in the preliminary report were nearly half of respondents believe it will be harder to find relevant IT candidates in the next 12 months.

Around 47 per cent of respondents cited ‘competition from other professions’ and 45 per cent cited ‘continued decline in IT enrolments’ as other top five factors impacting the future of Australian IT labour supplies.

Half of the respondents believe less than five per cent of their future IT hires will be sourced from outside Australia in the next 12 months, said Diversiti.

The survey targeted Australian employers who currently hire candidates across all IT functions with 365 respondents representing CIOs, IT managers and HR managers taking part.

The Diversiti IT Hiring Influence Report is endorsed by CompTIA, Queensland University of Technology and Accenture and full results will be launched in Sydney in the first week of June.