By Freya Purnell
In Q1 2015, 14 per cent of employers are intending to increase their contracting/temporary workforce, up 3.2 per cent on Q4 2014 and 9.4 per cent compared with a year ago, according to the latest Hudson Report: Employment Trends.
The ICT profession is leading contracting hiring intentions, with a net 23.7 per cent of businesses looking to hire in Q1 2015.
“ICT is fast becoming the dominant force behind the contracting market in Australia. We have seen demand for strong project managers increase over the past 18 months as large transformation projects have reached implementation stage, and we don’t see this changing in the New Year,” said Dean Davidson, executive general manager, Hudson Australia. “Businesses are investing in personnel who can really support them to deliver key projects and ICT is becoming an increasingly important component of business growth.”
Overall, employer intentions to hire have reached their highest level since Q2 2015. A net 18.7 per cent of employers are looking to increase permanent staff levels in the first three months of the year.
“Despite lukewarm economic conditions and recently released weak GDP figures, Australian employers are optimistic about the year ahead. While the outlook is buoyant, the thirst for talent is centred on specific sectors and role families that support business transformation. These often newly created roles are critical to future success and profitability and as such, may be less impacted by broader economic trends in the months ahead,” Davidson said.
