23 Feb 2010

As major projects such as the National Broadband Network gather momentum it is expected that there are going to be skills shortages in many IT specialities in Australia.

The Australian Government set up NBN co Limited in 2009 in order to set up superfast broadband to Australian Homes and Workplaces over the next eight years. The project is expected to cost in excess of $40 billion.

NBN Co Limited will build and operate the network, providing 90 per cent ‘fibre to the premises’ coverage delivering speeds of 100 megabits per second with remaining coverage through state of the art wireless and satellite technologies, offering speeds of up to 12 megabits per second or more, to people living in more remote parts of rural Australia.

As one of the most exciting projects in the IT sector a major flight of engineers and infrastructure engineers is expected as soon as positions start to become available.

It is thought that employee dissatisfaction over salary freezes, job losses and reduced or axed bonuses have eroded loyalty during the economic downturn seen in 2009. Australian employers will need to work hard to keep their staff this year.

A report in The Australian identifies how difficult some of the skills needed would be to find. Peter Noblet, director of Hays IT Australia and New Zealand says “It is a tough assessment with the 457 visa side of things and bringing people in from  overseas, but in certain skill sets there will be no choice but to do that”.

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