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ICT Trends – International Enrolments

Tertiary IT Enrolment & Completion Trends (Source: Education Counts Statistics Website)

The Department of Labour March 2012 migration report states that in July 2011-March 2012, 56,741 international students were approved to study in New Zealand, a 7 per cent decrease from 61,060 in July 2010-March 2011.

A recent news item in the Waikato Times places the worth of New Zealand's international education industry at $2.5 billion. The article focusses on the University of Waikato where international enrolments fell from 1670 in 2010, to an anticipated 1470 in 2012, leading to a loss of millions of dollars in revenue. The high New Zealand dollar, the rise of stronger Asian universities, and changes to educational policies in countries such as Canada, Australia and the United States has been blamed for the decline.

The figures for international tertiary enrolments for 2012 are unavailable on the MoE Education Counts website so it is too soon to say what impact this decline in international student numbers has made on ICT enrolments. However, the overall enrolment and completion trends from 2005 up to 2011 are available. Figure 1 indicates a decline in international diploma enrolments from peak numbers in 2009, while figure 2 indicates a drop of almost 50 per cent from peak degree enrolments in 2005.

Fig.1 Diploma Enrolments (EFTS) & Completions 2005 - 2011

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Fig.2 Degree Enrolments (EFTS) & Completions 2005 - 2011

ICT Job Vacancies Advertised Online

Seek ICT job adverts (Fig.3) have increased by 30 per cent for the year to May, although the figure of

2263 is just 5 per cent up on May 2010.

Fig.3 Seek ICT Job Adverts Monthly Trends 2010 –2013 (May)

Figure 4 illustrates the 2013 online job advert trends for Trademe IT, down by 28 per cent on May

2012, and for Seek ICT, down by 18.7 per cent on same time last year.

Fig.4 Seek ICT & Trademe IT Job Advert Trends for 2013

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Figure 5 illustrates an overall increase in Seek ICT job adverts for New Zealand of 8.5 per cent for the

month of May.

Fig.5 Seek ICT Job Advert Trends Monthly Change for May 2013

Figure 6 provides a detailed record of the Seek ICT job advert trends by region to May 2013.

Fig.6 Seek ICT Job Advert Monthly Trends to May 2013

News Bytes: A to Z

Bay of Plenty Times (7 May 2013): International students staying away; another article confirming

declining international student numbers lnkd.in/3fp7kc.

Computerworld (7 May 2013): According to the Clarius Skills Indicator report for March quarter 2013

a shortage of 100 IT manager jobs has emerged, while the second half of the year will see

improvements in ICT job hiring due to new projects coming online.

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Johannesburg (SA) (9 May 2013): Upskill to meet ICT demand; Specialists in data analytics and data management are highly sought after lnkd.in/YE2ZF6.

Here in New Zealand there are currently 29 Information & Communication Technology jobs

containing data analytics on the Seek ICT website. Salaries are in the $60k to $100k range.

Western Australia (8 May 2013): Building Australia’s ICT capability; the current ICT skills shortage

must be addressed. ICT enrolments in training and education have fallen about 55% nationally

lnkd.in/iHnpWv.

ZDNet (3 May 2013): Peak Australian IT lobby group the Australian Information Industry Association

(AIIA) has set out its priorities for the upcoming September 2012 election, stating that parties of all

political persuasions should be focusing on addressing the skills shortage and use of IT in Australia.