Credit: Dreamstime
Australian businesses are being forced to rely on cyber security experts based overseas due to the country's chronic talent shortage, new data has revealed.
According to recruitment agency Robert Half, cyber security poses a greater hiring challenge for local chief technical and information officers more than any other tech role.
Out of a survey of 100 CIOs and CTOs, 63 per cent of respondents said they rely on IT security and cyber security skills from oversees as trained experts are not available locally.
Following this was IT management at 46 per cent, infrastructure and engineering at 42 per cent, technical support and operations at 41 per cent and then data and database management at 35 per cent.
Robert Half’s research also found that 82 per cent of Australian CIOs plan to hire permanent IT positions from overseas, as well as 75 per cent of contracted roles, following the winding back of COVID-19 restrictions by reopening Australia’s borders to vaccinated visa holders.
This is greater than the average for all sectors, which sits at 71 and 61 per cent of executives planning to hire internationally for permanent and contract positions, respectively.
By looking globally for new talent, tech companies also expose themselves to global competition for recruitment, and as such will need to at least meet the global standards of the industry, according to David Jones, senior managing director of Robert Half Asia Pacific.
Aside from pay, relocation is a significant factor for roles that require a physical presence, which is why 84 per cent of CIOs are likely to hire and relocate new workers to Australia, Robert Half’s research claimed.
"There is no doubt the current war for talent is placing pressure on Australian companies to focus on recruiting from overseas, but it is also evident that companies need to strengthen internal talent pipelines and be able to attract and retain local skills to develop a truly agile tech-first workforce,” Jones added.
“Organisations must be mindful of the fact that while international skilled migration will help mitigate skills shortages, we will also start to see talent leave Australia again as border restrictions ease around the world, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.”
Robert Half's research comes as job advertisement SEEK recorded a 7 per cent month-on-month rise in IT job listings during January, bouncing back from December's decline of 6.8 per cent.
