According to Phil Catley, Chief Customer Officer for the South Australian Business Chamber member Wireless Communications, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to scale up a new industry with thousands of highly paid, highly skilled jobs in the information industry.
The ICT industry SME organisations who rarely receive the headlines that global brands achieve, but are the powerhouse of our local economy, will be significantly impacted.
“There is a wages war for talent, and SMEs are often at the bottom of the food chain….. We need to do more to support these businesses,” said Phil.
There have been many new ICT job announcements since the last half of 2021, including:
These announcements alone total 7000 new jobs over five years.
If we want to South Australia become a tech hub we need to ensure we capitalise on these announcements. With our current annual graduate volumes in the low hundreds, this will not happen.
We need to increase our capacity to scale up our ICT industry skills. Increasing the demand for skills in our state requires an influx of experienced and skilled workers and programs to train new or cross-train existing workers. We must be prepared to sponsor skilled migrants and invest in the growth of local talent.
The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) invites the South Australian Business Chamber members to join them, in an online briefing, to address skilling options. Please register here.
The South Australian Business Chamber is also seeking advice from members about the impact of the ICT skills shortage, including the impact on SMEs, mature workers, graduates, and how we can grow our existing supply. We will hold a member roundtable in the first week of April and interested the South Australian Business Chamber members are encouraged to contact the South Australian Business Chamber Senior Policy Adviser Karen van Gorp by email.
