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ICT employment rises but old problems remain

ACS staff, Information Age

18/10/2006 21:08:58

Rapid falls over the last four years has seen unemployment in the Australian ICT sector fall to 5.1 per cent, close to the nation's average of 4.9 per cent, according to the Australian Computer Society's 2006 Employment Survey.

Conducted online for the first time, the survey found that while two-thirds of respondents had been in full-time work for five years or more and that nearly all had done some training over the last three years, 20 per cent had been discriminated against because of age, and 11 per cent because of nationality or ethnicity.

Women fared worse: 37 per cent of female respondents said they had been discriminated against because of their sex.

While overall 8.6 per cent of members responded, only 15 per cent of these were women; this is out of kilter with the ICT sector as whole which comprises 24 per cent females according to the latest ABS data.

Female respondents were more likely to be hourly contract employees or student seeking work.

This report does not include all graphics, however the complete survey results can be seen at www.acs.org.au.

Executive summary

The 2006 ACS Survey is the fourth in the series providing detailed information on the employment outlook for ICT professionals in Australia. Its aim is to assist ICT professionals and those contemplating a career in the industry, with a useful overview of employment conditions in the profession.

The response made to the 2006 survey, at a response rate of 8.6 per cent, reflects members' continuing interest in contributing to an important aspect of ACS activities, which is to further the employment prospects of ICT professionals in Australia.

Unemployment and the employment outlook A most positive feature of the survey concerns the continuing growth in the ICT profession. Unemployment has continued to decline rapidly over the past four years (falling from 7.2 per cent in the previous survey to 5.1 per cent in 2006) and is currently close to the national average unemployment level. Sixty-four per cent of respondents state that they have not experienced any period of unemployment over the past five years.

The more positive employment outlook is also reflected in the continuing increase in the number of respondents who are in full-time salaried employment. In addition, underemployment remains limited, with sixty seven percent of respondents reporting that they have not experienced any underemployment over the past five years.

The increased continuity of employment by respondents to the survey is another indicator of a more positive employment outlook in the ICT industry and profession. Half the respondents of the survey, which is heavily weighted to the younger members, had worked more than 10 years in the ICT industry in Australia.

Professional development ACS members demonstrate the importance of continuous training and skills upgrading; the overwhelming majority (almost 90 per cent) of respondents had undertaken some form of training over the past three years, with the main types of training being ICT related, followed by personal development and business-related training, no doubt reflecting the demands of the ICT industry and the profession.

Respondents, however, continue to report on the challenges faced, including the cost of courses and accessibility. Nevertheless, the majority of respondents reported a willingness to undertake new training and/or retraining.

Job search The Internet was considered to be the best source of new ICT positions, with newspapers and recruitment agencies ranking lowly. A notable feature concerns the role of networking and word of mouth: it was by far the most evenly spread distribution of responses, indicating that some people are far more comfortable working their network to their advantage than are others.

Age discrimination and gender issues A significant proportion (20 per cent) of respondents reported that they had been discriminated against on the basis of their age. As for discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity a significant proportion (11 per cent) of respondents stated this to be the case, with students highly represented in this group.

The low response by females to the survey is reflective of the gender composition of ACS membership. However, the response rate of 15 per cent females to 85 per cent males is disproportionate to the distribution of the Australian workforce, and even within the ICT sector, the most recent ABS data show 24 per cent of professionals in the workforce are female and 76 per cent, male.

A significant finding of the survey concerns the reported 37 per cent of female respondents who felt they had been discriminated against on the basis of sex, compared with 1.3 per cent of males. Female respondents were more likely to be hourly contract employees or students seeking work.

Survey methodology The most recent survey changed from paper-based to online with a consequent change in the profile of the respondents. Younger members were more likely to respond to an online survey than they had previously been to a paper-based survey.

Demographic profile The ACS employment survey achieved a response rate of 8.6 per cent, a quarter of whom also responded to the corresponding survey last year.

The respondents were predominantly male (85 per cent), reflecting the gender composition of ACS membership.

In terms of the geographical spread of respondents, NSW and Victoria provided the largest number of responses, followed by a strong contribution from overseas.

The age profile of the respondents to the 2006 survey was substantially different to that of previous surveys. This year's sample is more heavily weighted to the younger members than was the case in the past.

Respondents were represented from the core ICT industries and across a wide range of business sectors.

This industry dispersion is indicative of the significant contribution of ICT professionals in today's business environment. A strong and healthy economy thrives on strong and innovative ICT skills.

More than two thirds (69.5 per cent) of respondents were employed full-time (in excess of 35 hours per week) continuing the gently rising trend discernible over the past three surveys. (Given that the survey sample was significantly younger this year than previously, it seems likely that there would be more people in full-time employment). A further 7.5 per cent were self-employed proprietors or directors, and another 7.5 per cent were studying but seeking work.

Sixty percent of respondents worked 40 hours or more per week, of which 12 percent worked more than 50 hours.

Unemployment within the survey sample, which would be indicative of the ICT industry as a whole, has fallen rapidly to a level closer to the national unemployment average than at any time in the four years over which the survey has been conducted.

Breaking this down regionally, it can be seen that unemployment of ACS members is especially lower compared with unemployment data in SA and Queensland, but is still higher than in NSW, Tasmania and WA.

Employment within the industry Employment of ACS members (in a full-time salaried role) has risen consistently over the four years that have been surveyed.

Half the respondents of the survey (which is heavily weighted to the younger members) had worked more than 10 years in the ICT industry in Australia, and this is suggestive of a more positive employment environment in the industry. Fourteen per cent have never worked in the IT industry here.

The average length of time that respondents have worked in the ICT industry is close to 12 years. However, the median time is closer to 10.5 years, reflecting the heavier weighting of younger respondents in the latest survey.

Functional experience More than a third of respondents (35.6 per cent) currently have development and implementation as their main ICT job responsibility. The next most common responsibility (24.9 per cent) is management and administration.

There appears to be a correlation between age and functional responsibility, with younger respondents more commonly in development and implementation, or technical support and maintenance. Older respondents were more likely to be in management and administration.

Table 2. Percentage of People Undertaking Each Responsibility by Age Group Development & Implementation Management & Administration Sales & Marketing Strategy & Planning Service Delivery Technical Support & Maintenance Under 25 46.0 8.0 4.0 7.0 5.0 30.0 25-30 42.9 17.0 2.7 8.8 8.8 19.8 31-35 35.4 23.6 3.5 2.8 7.6 27.1 36-40 31.6 30.1 2.2 5.9 10.3 19.9 41-45 32.4 35.2 4.8 5.7 5.7 16.2 46-50 28.2 35.3 4.7 8.2 7.1 16.5 51-55 37.7 18.0 1.6 9.8 18.0 14.8 56-60 20.9 44.2 7.0 2.3 14.0 11.6 61-65 15.4 38.5 0.0 7.7 23.1 15.4

When asked if they had been unemployed at some time over the past five years, those with some experience of unemployment were most likely to have current functional responsibility in sales and marketing; strategy and planning; technical support and maintenance; and service delivery. Those least likely to had current experience in development and implementation or management and administration.

Underemployment was most commonly reported among those in technical support and maintenance, which is a positive for users of ICT services. It was also a greater threat to those in strategy and planning than in other areas.

Table 3. Current functional responsibility of those experiencing no underemployment in the past 5 years per cent Development & Implementation Management & Administration Sales & Marketing Strategy & Planning Service Delivery Technical Support & Maintenance Average across functions 67.4 69.9 64.3 58.9 66.2 57.6 65.3

Training When asked what training they had undertaken over the past three years, almost 90 per cent of respondents indicated they had undertaken some form of training. Those least likely to have undertaken training were hourly contract employees, followed by those retired and those studying. Self employed proprietors were most likely to have undertaken training, along with those working full-time

Sixty-two per cent had undertaken ICT-related training. Next most common was personal development with 43 per cent of respondents undertaking some in the past three years. Thirty-nine per cent had undertaken business related training.

Twenty per cent of respondents had training in other disciplines and of these, the highest proportion were self-employed proprietors.

Those currently unemployed also undertook training in other disciplines but the nature of this training would need to be more fully understood before any firm conclusions could be drawn.

Sixty percent of respondents indicated that cost of courses was a major challenge. Over half (55.8 per cent) indicated sparing the time to attend was the main challenge.

Getting to the places where training is held was the least common challenge, but it was striking in its regional profile. Respondents from NSW, Victoria and the ACT were least concerned. Beyond that, respondents in other states were challenged to a greater extent.

Two-thirds of respondents indicated that they were very open to undertaking new training and/or retraining. Slightly less than a third (31.9 per cent) indicated that it would depend on the future possibilities that would eventuate from the training. Just 2 per cent indicated they would not be very amenable to new training.

Part-time salaried and those studying were most amenable to training while self-employed proprietors and hourly contract employees were the least amenable. The unemployed were the most likely to look at future possibilities that would be likely to eventuate before undertaking the training.

The most highly rated source of ICT training was tertiary education courses. More respondents nominated seminars and conferences overall, but more chose tertiary courses as the best source of training. Seminars were chosen as the second best form of training by a substantial majority. User groups were ranked third ahead of vendors and suppliers and the ACS.

Qualifications Only 5 per cent of respondents reported no formal qualifications. They were most likely to be self-employed proprietors or hourly contract employees or still studying.

Fifteen percent of respondents had a diploma and those with a diploma were twice as likely to have vendor accreditation than those with a university degree or a postgraduate diploma.

Thirty-seven percent had a bachelor's degree and a further 16 per cent had honours. Fifteen per cent had a graduate diploma and a further 15 per cent had a master's degree. Two per cent had a PhD.

Qualifications unsurprisingly were clustered around areas such as computer science, information technology, maths, science and engineering. A significant number of qualifications were held in business related disciplines including MBAs. There has been a view for some time that ICT professionals do not have a sufficiently broad view of the organisation's goals and direction. Having a significant cohort of ICT professionals with business qualifications should go a long way towards overcoming that perception.

Sources of jobs Respondents considered the Internet to be the best source of new ICT positions and newspapers the worst.

This is not surprising given the change in advertising shown by the ANZ job advertisement series. Over the past four years the balance between Internet and newspaper advertising has changed substantially.

Table 4. ANZ Job Series No. of jobs advertised on Internet Percentage change No. of jobs advertised in Newspapers Percentage change Percentage change in job ads all media 2002-03 63402 7.6 21013 3.3 6.5 2003-04 81453 28.5 21540 2.5 22 2004-05 115338 41.6 21866 1.5 33.2 2005-06 166533 44.4 20450 -6.5 21.4 Source: ANZ Job Advertisement Series

Recruitment agencies scored the lowest ranking as the best source of new positions. However, given that the vast majority of recruitment agencies list their positions on the Internet, there would be little reason to approach an agency in the first instance without having a specific opportunity that had already been uncovered on the Internet.

Networking and word of mouth was found to be effective by some respondents and less effective than other methods by others. It was by far the most evenly spread distribution of responses which indicates that some people are far more comfortable working their network to their advantage than are others and this is a skill that those who have responded negatively to this option could look to enhance in the future.

Half the respondents indicated that they would be prepared to take an ICT position involving new skill sets. A further 28 per cent would be prepared to consider it depending on the skill sets needed. Other caveats included the nature of the position and location to a lesser extent. Only a handful of respondents were not at all amenable to reskilling.

Eighty three percent of respondents considered themselves to be currently employed in the ICT industry. While respondents consider themselves to be employed in the ICT industry, they also operate within other industry groups as shown in Table 1.

When asked what period of time they had spent unemployed over the past 5 year, 64 per cent of respondents had remained in employment. While any period of unemployment is potentially devastating to those experiencing it, the high proportion of people remaining employed after the bursting of the "dotcom bubble" indicates a strong resilience in the Australian ICT industry.

When asked what period of time they had spent underemployed in the past 5 years there was a similarly limited effect across the industry. Two thirds of respondents had not experienced underemployment over the past five years.

Discrimination Although the majority of respondents had not encountered discrimination in their working life, significant numbers of respondents had been discriminated against on one basis or another.

One in five respondents reported that they had been discriminated against on the basis of their age. There was a clear divide between those aged 45 or over and those under 45. The former group was much more likely to have encountered age discrimination.

The high proportion of people in the self-employed proprietor category who have encountered age discrimination indicates that they have had a lack of other opportunities. As the population ages and skilled workers become scarcer it will be important to ensure workers do not face age discrimination. We cannot afford to assume that people will be prepared to take the self-employed option to continue to meet the needs of the ICT industry.

Eleven per cent of respondents had encountered discrimination on the basis of their race or ethnicity. Those most highly represented in this group were students. Given the recent reports that have been released about granting of visas to foreign students to work in ICT in Australia, it is unlikely that perception will change in the near term.

Gender issues The low response by females to this survey indicates a deeper problem in the perception of ICT careers by young talented women.

The response rate of 15 per cent females to 85 per cent males is rather disproportionate to the distribution of the Australian workforce. According to ABS data, the Australian workforce is distributed across gender much more evenly. Even within the ICT industry grouping, the most recent ABS figures (2003) show 76 per cent male and 24 per cent female.

Of further concern is the fact that 37 per cent of the female respondents felt they had been discriminated against on the basis of sex compared with 1.3 per cent of males. This sense of discrimination is most strongly felt in the younger age groups, which bodes ill for retaining younger women in the industry and improving the gender balance over time.

The female respondents to this survey were more likely to be hourly contract employees or students seeking work. They were less likely than their male counterparts to be full or part-time employees. This indicates, to the extent that they are representative of women in the ICT industry, that they are less engaged by the industry than are the males.

They are more likely to have a bachelor's degree than their male counterparts, but less likely to have honours or a master's degree.

Age and means of communication The survey methodology changed from paper based to online between the previous surveys and the current survey. The difference in the age profile of respondents was clear. Younger members responded in much greater proportions than they had done previously with the paper based surveys.

While it has been accepted for some time that younger people have a greater uptake of electronic communications than older people, the obverse of that also appears to be true - younger people are far more reluctant than older people to use non-electronic means of communication. This has major implications for the way in which organisations interact with their members across age demographics.