Addressing workforce challenges in the IT sector

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2 Addressing workforce challenges in the IT sector - an APESMA position paper on IT skills shortages What is APESMA? The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA) is an organisation registered under the Fair Work Act 2009 representing over 25,000 Professional Engineers, Professional Scientists, Veterinarians, Professional Surveyors, Architects, Pharmacists, Information Technology Professionals, Managers and Transport Industry Professionals throughout Australia. APESMA is the only industrial association representing exclusively the industrial and professional interests of these groups. What is the ITPA? APESMA represents several thousand members working directly in Information Technology (IT) through its special interest group - the Information Technology Professionals Association (ITPA). This document puts the APESMA/ITPA position on addressing IT skills shortages. It is widely recognised that IT is a critical productivity and innovation enabler. While direct quantification is problematic 1, OECD, Productivity Commission and ABS research have estimated that around 50 per cent of business productivity can be attributed to the application of IT. The IT sector is a major employer. With more than 100,000 new IT jobs created in the past decade in Australia, Australia s information and communications technology market is the fifth largest in the Asia Pacific region and the 14th largest in the world 2. While national employment levels have risen by around 1.6 per cent over the past five years, IT professionals have seen a growth of 47.6 per cent in the ten years to May making it one of the most critical sources of employment and a consistent driver of economic growth. Australia employs up to 155,000 IT professionals directly in the IT industry and around another 230,000 in other sectors of the economy 4. In 2009, ICT accounted for 9 per cent of professional employment and two per cent of all employment in Australia. 5 National statistics show a decline in university IT enrolments of over 18% in the period 2002 to DEEWR figures indicate that the rate of decline of eligible applicants may be slowing with a decline of 11.4% between 2006 and In spite of declining skills shortages in 2009 in response to the global financial crisis 8, shortages in IT skills are expected to re-emerge and impact project delivery in the short-term 9 & 10. In the longer-term, the ACS/AIIA Report 11 forecast a shortfall of 25,000 IT jobs by The gap between demand for IT skills and the supply of skilled IT professionals compromises potential export and productivity gains, innovative capability and employment growth across Australian industry. The following are some of the initiatives which have been advocated by the Gershon Review in response to current workforce challenges: use temporary migrant visas as a short-term solution; increase local graduate numbers; reduce the loss of ICT professionals to overseas employers; grow existing ICT professionals skills through training and development; employ and/or better retain older Australians; and attract more females to IT careers. 12 APESMA/ITPA response to skills shortages Consistent with the measures recommended by the Gershon Review and the NICTIA/ACS 10 year vision for IT in Australia 13, the ITPA is playing a leading role in addressing IT workforce challenges by developing and supporting strategies which will enhance Australia s IT skills base. We recognise that solutions are required at the level of the profession and on an industry-byindustry basis as well as at the enterprise level. The ITPA is therefore involved in the following

3 areas to directly address IT workforce challenges as well as having input into broader policy areas which are critical but less directly affect career and employment-related areas. Addressing workforce challenges Provide appropriate salaries Provide positive working conditions Provide challenging and rewarding career paths Reduce loss of IT professionals overseas Identify and facilitate training and development opportunities in areas of shortage Identify and reduce attrition of experienced staff, in particular women and other groups under-represented in the IT workforce Use local skilled professionals in enabling infrastructure development projects Support skilled migration where existing staff are being appropriately trained Maintain skilled migration with improved targeting Ensure the interests of nonstandard workers in IT are protected Ensure employers have in Strategies for attracting, developing and retaining skilled IT professionals Develop constructive relationships with major IT employers and provide with APESMA/ACS market rates Identify problems with working conditions and develop solutions to put to employers alongside market rates to assist with staff retention Include IT professionals in APESMA mentoring programs In conjunction with business, develop incentives and strategies for retaining talented IT Professionals including flexibility provisions in bargaining agendas and supporting use of international exchange programs where feasible Include in bargaining agendas, working with employers to develop the skills of existing staff, retrain existing staff in areas of shortage and encourage IT professionals into further professional development in shortage areas such as project management Work with employers during bargaining to develop a plan or extend their existing plans to encourage women and other under-represented groups to stay in the profession/with employer by considering options such as flexibility provisions, part-time work, parental leave, training on re-entering workforce, ensuring career breaks don t stall career paths, and paying superannuation whilst on parental leave Skilled migration Advocate employment of local skilled professionals in the development of projects such as the National Broadband Network Ensure that employers are contributing to the development and training of the local workforce in the skills that are in short supply to reduce its reliance on overseas labour in the future Support Federal Government s IT Skilled Occupation List being more appropriately targeted and specific Strategies for realising the potential contribution of the contingent IT workforce place strategies for maximising the contribution of their contingent as well as permanent workforce Provide an evidence-base to encourage Federal Government to rethink how agencies buy and use IT services and products - develop a business case for ensuring uniformity and integrity of contracts for provision of labour and fair terms for contractors Suggest initiatives which will ensure contractors and consultants are engaged and their interests are aligned with those of the engaging organisation or client

4 Support technology innovation vision to realisation 14 by enabling IT innovators to pursue business/collaborative opportunities (95% of Australian ICT sector is SME s 15 ) Those involved in technological innovation or research may lack entrepreneurial and business skills. Develop IT-specific support for consultants and contractors Broader policy input Reduce/limit offshoring of IT service provision Increase number of local graduates Increase support for R&D Support for more effective commercialisation of intellectual property Support incentives for business to retain IT services on-shore Support initiatives to attract and retain girls in IT at secondary school level and women in IT courses at tertiary level Support initiatives which provide improved financial/taxation incentives for private sector funded research and development develop initiatives to facilitate stronger industry and research linkages 16 increase funding for public sector research, especially in collaboration with industry - focus on applied research and commercial R&D 17 create demand for, and drive commercialising innovation and development of new products and services Support initiatives which: increase investment incentives enhance the ability of Australian firms to attract the necessary venture capital to create, exploit and globally license intellectual property. 18 The ITPA collaborates with governments, education providers and relevant industry groups to meet the current challenges facing the IT workforce in Australia. 1 National Office for the Information Economy, Contribution of ICT to economic growth, 2002, p ITCRA newsletter, Issue 26 4 Roy Morgan Research, Single Source Data, September ABS Labour Force Survey quoted in DEEWR Labour Supply and Skills Branch report: Overview of the 2009 ICT Research Program: methodology and findings 6 Dobson, I.. R. (2007). The IT Education Bubble: An analysis of university student statistics , Centre for Population & Urban Research, Monash University and Educational Policy Institute, pp. 44, retrieved DEEWR (2008). Undergraduate Applications, Offers and Acceptances [Viewed 09 October 2008] B48A385CD233/21546/UndergraduateApplicationsOffersandAcceptances2008.pdf 8 DEEWR Labour Supply and Skills Branch, Overview of the 2009 ICT Research Program: Methodology and Findings, 2009, p.6. 9 Australian Financial Review, , Business confidence will lead to tech skills shortage. 10 Insights into IT Professionals (Australia), Manpower Market Insights Paper, April 2009, p Centre for Innovative Industry Research Inc. (August 2008), The ICT skills forecast project. First report: Quantifying current and forecast ICT employment (Executive summary and contents) produced for the Australian Computer Society and the Australian Information Industry Association. 12 Review of the Australian Government s Use of Information and Communication Technology, Gershon, P. 2008, p National ICT Industry Alliance and Australian Computer Society, Energising Australian Innovation: a 10 year Strategic Vision for the Australian Information and Communications Technology Sector, Cutler Report Executive Summary p.3

5 15 ACS Submission on National Innnovation System Review, p.1 16 List derived from NICTIA media release, ACS, Energising Australian Innovation - a 10 year strategic vision for the Australian Information and Communications Technology sector, p.7 18 ACS, Energising Australian Innovation - a 10 year strategic vision for the Australian Information and Communications Technology sector