Published on the 07/08/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
The Federal election, which has now been called for September 7, could kick-start ICT spending after months of suspended animation according to a leading recruitment agency…
Australian businesses started putting their major investment decisions on hold back in February when then Prime Minister Julia Gillard signalled a September poll. According to Peter Acheson, CEO of Peoplebank, the mining and energy sectors in particular have mothballed many investment projects until there is greater certainty regarding future Government policy with regard to both the minerals resource rent tax and the carbon tax.
This he said had a flow on effect in terms of technology projects and ICT spending, which would have been required to underpin any fresh business investment, and that this had in turn stalled ICT hiring.
Acheson said that companies had been responding to “enormous instability” and a lack of policy clarity. “We saw a reasonably substantial decline in hiring intention in March,” according to Acheson, who added that demand had been sluggish ever since.
In a media release issued this week Acheson noted that, “All of our data – our salary survey, jobs index and Peoplebank’s own experience – suggests a market that – bar NSW – has hit the pause button.
“Employers tell us that they are postponing the start of new projects until after the Federal election, and the broader reality is that, with the general lack of heat in Australia’s economy, there is little market pressure to speed ahead with their ICT strategies.”
However with the poll date now being confirmed as September 7, Acheson told iStart he expected there would likely be some evidence of latent demand for ICT skills if there was a decisive victory for one party, Labor or Coalition, at the election. “I think there will be a spike in IT hiring and I think it will be stronger if there is a Liberal Government,” he added.
“Whether that is a sustainable lift in hiring…is debateable,” he added.
Peoplebank this week released its latest quarterly salary survey which identified softer demand for skills nationally, although there was a slight lift late in the quarter in NSW, South Australia and the ACT. ICT salaries remained pretty flat during the three months, although there were signs of salary shrinkage in some roles where demand had ebbed.
