The document provides a summary of the ICT job market and salaries across different states in Australia. It notes that business confidence has increased nationally in early 2016 leading to more IT hiring. Demand is particularly high for data scientists and UX consultants. NSW has the strongest job market while WA continues to lag due to declines in mining. Roles in high demand across states include developers, digital specialists, and data/analytics roles.
2. www.peoplebank.com.auPage2
Market Update
NATIONAL
Following the Christmas and summer period, business confidence in Australia has shifted from cautious optimism to a real lift over the first quarter of 2016. Nationwide, we’ve seen
an increase in IT hiring, with the impact of digital transformation investments continuing to affect recruitment and staffing strategies.
We’re also seeing a shift away from part-time employment contracts to full-time employment commitments, as employers feel confident enough in the economy to back their
everyday and strategic IT hires. Specifically, we’re seeing unmet demand for data scientists and UX consultants, demonstrating the growing emphasis businesses are placing on
understanding their customer and optimising their customer’s digital experiences across multiple platforms.
With an upcoming election in the next quarter, we may see business confidence shift, depending on which party seems likely to be elected. A stable and unchanged Government
may allow for little disruption to the economy, whereas a change in Government or public agenda may see a delay in confidence resettling.
On a state-by-state level, NSW is the hottest jobs market at the moment, and the entire Eastern seaboard is enjoying positive employment conditions. IT employment in Perth
continues to lag with the decline of the mining industry, and we expect to see WA talent start to migrate, even if only temporarily, to Eastern states. We also see Canberra as a
particularly attractive market for IT talent, where the Government’s moves to digitally transform services continue to call for IT skills across various roles.
NSW
New South Wales has experienced a very strong and active market over the last quarter, with demand for the latest digital and technology skills steadily rising. IT professionals are
also becoming more aware of the growing range of career opportunities in this industry, and are steadily becoming more open and willing to job changes.
In particular, there have been high requirements for digital talent, including user experience (UX) professionals, customer experience (CX) consultants, front-end and back-end
developers, and visual designers. What these roles all have in common, is a tie to customer experience. We are seeing more and more businesses, particularly large enterprises,
invest in driving meaningful customer interactions. This leads to building large teams of experts who specialise in perfecting different parts of today’s expected customer
experience, whether that’s online, via a smartphone, or otherwise.
With this continuous growth in demand for digital and CX experts, it has been and will continue to become challenging for businesses to find the best talent as they need it. The
next quarter is expected to bring similarly strong growth and stability, though businesses should be planning ahead for the skills and talent they will need for projects at least six
months in advance. This will ensure they have the best teams on the ground, ready to execute digital projects as and when needed.
3. www.peoplebank.com.auPage3
Market Update
VIC
Victoria continues to be one of Australia’s strongest states, particularly around technology and technology vacancies. Unemployment is 2nd only to NSW and currently the lowest
it has been since 2011, current unemployment is 5.7 percent, the effects of this are already being noticed as we are seeing a shortage of candidates within specific skillsets along
with an increase in counteroffers and candidates with multiple job opportunities on the rise. Thanks to the government ‘tech start-up’ assistance program, we have witnessed an
increase in demand from small cap tech specialists who are competing in the same space of the medium sized SME’s and volume hirers, with high demand coming for Fullstack
developers / devops / Architects / Project services / B.I analytics and all things Digital.
In a recent ACS & Deliotte access economics paper, Victoria will see a rise in demand of IT workers by more than 40,000 by 2020. The data comes after the release of a recent
report commissioned by ACS titled ‘Australia’s Digital Pulse’ which found that an extra 100,000 workers will be needed within Australia over the next six years to meet demand
from companies hiring technology specialists. Victoria’s IT sector is set to grow by an additional 3.2 percent each year over the next six years – higher than the national average
found in the Australia’s Digital Pulsereport. Whilst demand is high across Tech, remuneration and contract rates have remained stable for the previous 18 months, and we don’t
predict a massive spike over the remainder of the current calendar year.
The leading in demand roles across Victoria in 2016/2017;
• Angular JS
• UX/UI developers & designers
• Cloud and Enterprise Architects
• Digital BA’s & PM’s
• Security Consultants
• B.I & data analytics
While there is high demand nationally, the ACS report has fundamentally identified that the root cause is Australia is doing nothing to promote the wide variety of roles available
across IT at a student level, and we we still are not creating enough graduates to meet the rising demand. Although showing small levels of growth since 2009, the number of
students enrolling in and completing their IT degrees are significantly lower than its peak during the “dot-com boom” of the early 2000’s.
4. www.peoplebank.com.auPage4
Market Update
QLD
It’s been a very encouraging quarter for the ICT recruitment sector in Queensland, with a general upward shift in salaries stemming from a steady increase in demand for IT talent.
The consistent growth in competitiveness for IT skills and staff is clearly a positive sign for job seekers, though should be a signal to employers of the growing ‘fight for talent’ state-
wide.
Amongst businesses and in the media, there have been a lot of discussions around the start-up scene, entrepreneurialism, and innovation in Queensland. For SMEs and large
enterprises, we are seeing more corporations looking to hire multiple roles in permanent digital, agile, and development roles than in previous months. While this has not led to a
sudden peak in competitiveness, it demonstrates corporate Australia’s initiative and investment in driving innovation and further adoption of digital technologies.
Over the next quarter, we expect this steady growth in IT recruitment to continue as Queensland-based digital and technology teams continue to grow their capabilities to address
the changing needs of today’s consumers and businesspeople.
WA
Western Australia is experiencing the impact of three major downturns – mining/resources, oil and gas, and a recruitment freeze by the state government. This has led to one of the
toughest job markets of recent times.
With many projects coming to completion, there is demand for project managers and testers in the ICT sector. However, with the challenges the local economy is facing as older
industries come to an end, many businesses are looking to embrace new technologies, which is resulting in an increased demand for particular digital roles. This includes business
analysts, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) professionals, and Android and iOS developers.
5. www.peoplebank.com.auPage5
Market Update
SA
There has been a steady growth in confidence and hiring in the South Australia jobs market in the last 3 months, particularly among SMEs. A consistent uptake of permanent roles
is also demonstrative of the increase in business confidence as employers are looking to invest in attracting and maintaining the best talent for the long-term.
User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) professionals, specifically, represent an emerging and growing area in SA. Employers should recognise that demand is growing, while
supply is low, and the fight for talent will continue to increase in competitiveness in the coming months. Another area showing consistent growth is business intelligence and big
data roles, exemplifying the trend among businesses to invest in these technologies and more digital ways of running their business.
SA employers looking to attract the best talent in these fields, from within SA and interstate, will need to seriously consider the salaries, job satisfaction, work/life balance, and other
lifestyle perks they can offer candidates, as the talent pool is not expected to catch-up to the skills demand in the short-term.
ACT
The ACT jobs market is going through a significant growth phase. The federal government is preparing for the upcoming election in July, and the financial year is coming to a close.
It’s a highly competitive market with ACT roles, on average, offering higher salaries than other states for digital and IT positions.
In particular, business analysts, Java developers, security analysts, and network specialists are in high demand. Data-related roles, including business intelligence and data
analytics professionals are also in high demand and particularly difficult to fill. We’re seeing a trend among corporate enterprises to engage with students studying these skills early
on, or liaising directly with universities to attract this talent before their competitors.
The time is now for government departments to draw in the best talent for their post-election projects, and also for candidates looking to optimise their return in a competitive
market. It’s an exciting time to be in the IT industry in Canberra, and in this candidate short market, local employers will need to recognise the importance of offering competitive
salaries and other lifestyle options to attract and maintain the best talent.
11. www.peoplebank.com.auPage11
About the Peoplebank ICT Salary Tables
The Peoplebank ICT Salary Tables are based upon ICT job offers and employment activity in each location Peoplebank operates in during the past
three months.
Permanent Salaries
All permanent salaries listed are base salaries only and do not include bonuses,
superannuation, commissions or other benefits.
When formulating salary ranges, as a general rule...
Low: The lowest salary expectation. Usually less than 3 years of experience in the
role
Median: The middle salary expectation. This will tend to be the predominant
expectation with most candidates having 3 to 5 years in the role
High: The highest salary expectation. The best candidates available with most
candidates having more than 5 years in the role.
Contract Rates
Please note that all rates listed are the ‘Rate to the Contractor’ only and do not include
management fees, superannuation, bonus, commissions or any other benefits or fees.
When formulating Contractor ranges, as a general rule...
Low: the minimum daily rate achieved for that position
to
High: the maximum daily rate achieved for that position
Salary and Rate Movements
Salaries and rates shown in green indicate an increase over the past three months whilst those shown in red indicate a decrease.
12. www.peoplebank.com.auPage12
More Information
To learn more about the Peoplebank ICT Salary and Employment Index, please feel free to contact one of our recruitment specialists in the following locations:
NSW
phone: 02 9409 4700
email: sydney@peoplebank.com.au
ACT
phone: 02 6245 1700
email: canberra@peoplebank.com.au
VIC
phone: 03 8080 7200
email: melbourne@peoplebank.com.au
QLD
phone: 07 3319 7555
email: brisbane@peoplebank.com.au
WA
phone: 08 9423 1400
email: perth@peoplebank.com.au
SA
phone: 08 8112 7400
email: adelaide@peoplebank.com.au