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The Australian IT jobs market is holding it together during the coronavirus pandemic, but there could be future job losses further down the line.
According to a report by IT recruitment firm Clicks, 37 per cent of organisations are expecting to make people redundant in the next 12 months as only 13 per cent have gained an increased IT budget.
The report, which surveyed more than 500 organisations in Australia, claimed 56 per cent of companies are expecting their headcount to remain “steady”.
Indeed, it revealed fewer companies have made IT staff redundant in July this year compared to January, the figures dropping from 28 per cent to 23 per cent, which Click argued is likely due to the Government's JobKeeper program.
However, the average salary rise has fallen from 1.75 per cent reported in December 2019 to 1.01 per cent as of July 2020.
Click also said reductions in hours, stand downs and terminations as a result of COVID-19 were widely reported and that more could be apparent in January 2021 upon the stopping of Government support.
“These actions have been taken to enable organisations to continue operating. It is likely that over the next two years, unemployment will be at its highest levels since at least 2009.”
Looking at the jobs market in particular, the report said the following roles had been difficult to recruit for over the last three years: application development, business analysis, project management and security.
However, since COVID-19, there have been several swings, the company claimed. Difficulty for application development has increased by 30 per cent; business analysis has dropped by a similar amount. Project management remains steady, but security has increased by 23 per cent.
In terms of demand, digital skills leapt threefold as most in demand, with project management, data and security following behind.
