After a slump in job opportunities several years ago, industry in now concerned that there will be a shortage of qualified people in the coming years. Business leaders predict that the new growth in the ICT industry is more-sustainable and long-term than the boom that preceded the ‘dotcom’ crash of 2000. A 2005 Australian Government report says that IT is one of the top five occupations in terms of employment growth over the next five years. The Department of Employment report also says that IT is now in the second-highest earnings bracket.
The Queensland Government expects Information & Communications employment in the state to grow by 47% this decade. The Government held a national summit in Brisbane in June 2006 to focus on the growing ICT skills shortage. ICT has been a target industry nurtured under the Queensland Government's Smart State Strategy. In 2007 there were more than 77,000 Queenslanders employed in about 5,600 ICT businesses and the sector generates more than $23 billion in sales, including $1.3 billion in export income.
In July 2006, the Australian newspaper carried a report that ICT-based projects are booming, with Queensland leading the nation. In October 2006, the Melbourne Age newspaper reported that job advertisement growth, as measured by recruitment firm Olivier's internet jobs index, was strongest in the ICT sector, had been for a year, and was expected to continue. And in February 2007, the Australian newspaper reported that ICT job growth (strongest in Queensland) is such that shortages of candidates could soon arise. In May 2007, the Brisbane Times on-line newspaper reported that Google Australia was hiring as many quality software engineers as it could find.
ICT graduate careers information from international enrolment and careers information provider, Hobsons, is here.