Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) 2022 Annual Survey Results. show that 75 percent of companies are actively recruiting, but a sharp decline in recruiting local talent has been found.
As the talent shortage in Australia’s tech sector continues, the AIIA study identified a 20 per cent drop from last year’s figure, with only 65 per cent of talent sourced locally.
“Our members have spoken clearly. Their concerns about Australia’s specialist technology talent are significant and inhibiting greater growth for the sector,” said AIIA Chief Executive Ron Gauci.
“We are calling for immediate government action to support increased and improved training for Australia’s rapidly growing ICT sector now.
Mr Gauci’s comments come after key stakeholders in the fintech space criticized the government’s pre-election budget last month.
Zai chief executive Paul Byrne agreed, saying the lack of government recognition hampered plans to hire in Australia in the short term.
“At this rate, we and other aspiring fintech businesses will be forced to look elsewhere for talent, which is a shame given our Australian foundations and the opportunity for Australia to be a global fintech leader,” Mr Byrne said.
Amid the new survey findings, Mr Gauci called on the government to “prioritise serious education reform” and reform the Australian curriculum.
“Technology is the way of the future and given that it affects every other industry, Australia must prioritize and protect our indigenous intellectual property,” he said.
“The clear signs that businesses are looking overseas to hire staff is a further reminder to the government that action is needed now.” More than a third (35 per cent) of our respondents said they would recruit from overseas, this is talent and capability Australia can and should provide – our governments must act now to boost the talent available for business.
“No one measure will fix this, but a concerted push to upskill Australians will ensure our nation has the capabilities to be a leading digital nation,” he concluded.
