Candidate shortages hit Aust IT shops

Hays IT Personnel general manager, Peter Noblet, said the industry saw a "definite upsurge" in the number of positions available after Christmas last year, with a rising job market and increased demand continuing to create candidate shortages.

Noblet made his comments as Hays released its 2004 salary survey, which drew its results from an analysis of all 2003/2004 financial year placements and a client questionnaire covering companies in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and New Zealand.

Almost two-thirds of employer respondents to the questionnaire said they expected to increase information technology employee salaries between 3 and 10 percent in coming reviews.

The general manager said: "We expect that the general demand for candidates over the short to medium term will place pressure on employers to improve the speed and candidate attraction strategies of their recruitment processes and to consider increasing salary levels in order to recruit and retain the best talent".

The survey found that VoIP engineers and business intelligence analysts and developers would enjoy the strongest job opportunities in the short to medium term.