No skills shortage in sight: AIIA

Salaries in the technology sector climbed by 5.2 percent over the past year, according to the AIIA's latest survey of salaries and remuneration, which was published on Friday.

AIIA's chief executive Rob Durie took a swipe at those who have warned of an impending skills shortage and said the survey reflects an industry that is "in balance".

"There is a lot of confusion in the market about what is happening on the skills front. While there might be some skills shortages in key areas -- across the board that is not the case," Durie told ZDNet Australia in a telephone interview. "A tightening labour market and record low unemployment rates ... suggest the ICT labour market is in balance."

Salaries will rise by around four percent over the next year and will be driven by a select set of "in demand" skills, which include Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), SAP and Siebel, according to AIIA board director Ian Birks.

Although Birks said there was no immediate skills shortage, he did not rule one out in the future: "While there is consistent talk of potentially serious skills shortages resulting from a reduction in ICT graduates, we're not yet seeing any clear evidence.... This is something we'll be more likely to see in the long term".

The survey -- not for public distribution -- was based on the salaries of 33,722 employees and the results will be used by AIIA's member companies to help develop recruitment strategies.