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ICT Trends – 2016: Ongoing demand for IT skills

Employment Market: National and Global

The latest Hudson Report ‘Forward focus 2016’ states that the job outlook for 2016 is more positive than during 2015, when the economy softened, with IT the top industry in terms of employers planning to add to permanent headcount. According to the report demand for IT professionals is being driven by the growth of companies in Auckland and Christchurch’s technology hubs and by large public sector projects in Wellington.

The NZ Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) All Vacancies Index, in the jobs online monthly report for January 2016, grew by 1.5 percent with information technology being one of the largest increases at 1.4 percent. Note, however, that in the trend series for the same All Vacancies Index, the IT industry fell by 6.7 percent over the year from January 2015 to January 2016. According to the report’s ‘Annual percentage change in advertised job vacancies’ multimedia specialists and web developers (Immigration NZ LTSSL ANZSCO 261211 & 261212) are among the fastest growing occupations, with an 80 percent increase over the last twelve months.

In terms of specialist ICT skills, the MBIE Occupation Outlook for 2016 rates job prospects for ICT Systems and Business Analysts and for Software Developers as growing and likely to remain strong in the coming years. Both of these occupations are on Immigration New Zealand’s long-term skill shortage list (LTSSL), reflecting the fact there are currently not enough graduates to meet demand.

The issue of IT job vacancies featured in a recent article in the Stuff Businessday with the headline ‘NZ IT industry must look to domestic talent to ease skill shortage’. An NZTech group 2013 survey found that NZ had 10,000 IT vacancies in a workforce of 124,000 and that NZ was, and is, competing for staff in a global market facing IT skill shortages. In the past two years the United States needed more than 1 million IT graduates while Europe was short of more than 800,000.

In an analysis of US government data by labour market analysts (Computerworld: 15/02/2016) the number of new IT jobs added in 2015 was estimated as ranging from 125,000 to about 180,000, similar to the trend in 2014. Digitising products; turning consumer wares into connected products, adapting to mobile and utilizing business intelligence, robotics and social media continues to drive demand.

Digitising products also has organisations in Germany and the Netherlands struggling to fill positions for software developers, according to a recent article in ComputerWorld. Germany has more than 43,000 vacancies for IT specialists, while there are 15,000 listed IT job openings in the Netherlands. Almost 64 percent of the IT companies surveyed have vacancies for software developers, with firms particularly in need of expertise in cloud computing, big data, and app programming. Software language skills in demand are .NET, Java and PHP.

Addressing Demand

NZTech is one of many organisations that have recognised a need for NZ to produce more of its own IT recruits, rather than relying on attracting recruits from overseas. The number of students completing computer science or information systems degrees, according to Ministry of Education figures, almost doubled from 760 in 2007 to 1420 in 2014. However, IT/ICT needs more women who currently make up just 23 percent of the NZ workforce and only 26.5 percent of total IT/ICT degree graduates.

IITP’s in-school programme, ICT-Connect, has provided a practical way of involving the industry in a strategy that is designed to help resolve New Zealand's ICT skill shortage, in the long term.

In the USA, government has launched a billion-dollar ‘Computer Science for All’ education program designed to help school leavers find and fill an increasing number of high-paying tech jobs (over 600,000 tech jobs were left vacant in the US last year across range of industries).

How does demand here in NZ compare with this time last year?

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Current Job Adverts

The total number of Seek ICT Job adverts for February 2016 is 1915, which is down 11 percent on February 2015 (Fig.1). However, this represents an increase of 33 percent on last month’s figure of 1436, which is fairly usual for this time of the year.

Fig.1 Seek ICT Job Adverts Monthly Trends 2010 – 2016 (February)

The number of Trademe IT job adverts for February (Fig.2) is down 17 percent on the same time last year and represents a 9.6 percent increase on last month.

Fig.2 Seek ICT & Trademe IT Job Advert Trends to February 2016

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Figure 3 illustrates the usual upward trend in Seek ICT job adverts for this time of the year although the job adverts for Auckland and Wellington are both down 10 percent on February 2015 while Canterbury is down 18 percent.

Fig.3 Seek ICT Job Advert Trends Monthly Change for Jan - Feb 2016

Figure 4 provides a detailed record of the Seek ICT job advert trends by region for the year to date.

Fig.4 Seek ICT Job Advert Monthly Trends to February 2016

Conclusion

Seek ICT job adverts are following the usual upward trend for this time of the year, although numbers for the three major regions of Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury are down on the February 2015 figures.

The IT industry jobs include some of NZ’s fastest growing occupations and, according to government and industry forecasts, are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Producing more ICT graduates and potential recruits to meet increasing local and global demand will continue to challenge governments, educationalists and industry leaders alike.

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News Bytes: A to Z

Germany/Netherlands – ComputerWeekly: Fears of software skills shortage in Germany and the Netherlands

Germany has more than 43,000 vacancies for IT specialists, while there are 15,000 listed IT job openings in the Netherlands.

NZ – AbsoluteIT: IT sector shines bright

Median base salaries increase by 60% within the first six years of IT experience.

NZ – MBIE Jobs Online: Monthly report for January 2016

The All Vacancies Index increased by 1.5 per cent with Information Technology up 1.4 percent although vacancies fell by 6.7 percent over the year February 2015 to February 2016.

NZ – MBIE Occupational Outlook 2016

Job prospects for STEM jobs are excellent

NZ - The Hudson Report: Forward Focus 2016

There is strong demand for IT professionals – the increase in the Wellington region is the result of large public sector projects.

NZ – Stuff.co.nz; Business Day: MBIE report rates job prospects across industries

IT Business & Systems Analysts, and software and web developers among jobs with the best rated prospects.

NZ – Stuff.co.nz; Business Day: NZ must look to domestic talent to ease skill shortage

IT staff shortage global. USA needs more than 1 million IT graduates in the next 2 years & Europe more than 800,000.

USA – Computerworld: New job realities ahead for IT workers

Estimates of the number of new IT jobs added last year range from 125,000 to about 180,000.

USA – IT News: Twenty hot skills that will get you a raise

Demand for IT skills driven by emergence of the cloud, big data, mobile and software and application engineering.

USA – IT News: Obama plans billion-dollar spend on computer science in US schools

According to the White House, over 600,000 tech jobs were left vacant in USA last year across range of industries.