The latest survey by Equinix, Inc., a digital infrastructure company™, revealed that Australian IT leaders have serious concerns about staff retention and recruitment.
According to the Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey, 65% of Australian IT decision-makers view a shortage of personnel with IT skills as one of the main threats to their business.
Businesses, including Equinix, are looking to widen the talent pool, bringing in more diverse candidates through alternative recruitment drives.
This is not surprising considering the challenges to retain and recruiting talent. Leading executives including the CEO of NAB have highlighted the growing need to find tech skills.
The biggest concern in Australia, the survey revealed, is the retention of current talent (45%), closely followed by changing workforce expectations around ways of working (43%).
Further, 39% of Australian respondents also say pay and compensation are challenges.
The most in-demand tech skills in Australia are data analytics, IT Security, AI/ML, and Cloud Computing among others.
“This survey illustrates the continued shortfall of skilled technology talent available in Australia,” said Guy Danskine, Equinix Australia’s Managing Director.
In response to skills shortages, many businesses are working hard to reskill people from other areas.
Indeed, 56% of Australian IT decision-makers said they reskill workers from similar industries, while 34% are trying to bolster their workforce with recruits from unrelated sectors.
Related read: Imperative for CBA to recruit right talent and invest in that talent: CIO
Talent is The Top Challenge Facing CFOs Through 2023
In a recent report, Gartner identified talent as the top challenge CFOs are facing through 2023. The challenging job market is part of a set of factors challenging CFOs through 2023. Other challenges are stubborn inflation and macroeconomic factors.
Related article: Upskilling and Skilled Migration key to addressing talent crisis, says NAB CEO
Lack of Skilled Talent a Critical Issue: CEO of NAB
NAB is having difficulty filling open positions despite being a “good recruiting brand”. CEO Ross McEwan revealed that NAB has currently 800 open positions in technology and operations.
Mr McEwan called upon Australian businesses and institutions to identify the skills and labour needed in the future.
“Our education curriculums need modernising. This is the only way we will keep up in the technology fields. But we still can’t fill roles – in fact, we have about 800 technology and operations roles vacant right now.”
Related read: NAB Improves In-house Talent with Return to Work program
