Working in IT is a relatively portable skill, and Australia remains a highly desirable destination. A survey by global recruiter Hydrogen suggests that plenty of IT experts are eyeing off a move down under.
Technology manager picture from Shutterstock
According to Hydrogen’s Global Professionals on the Move 2013 report, Australia is the third-most popular destination for professionals who relocate, ranking after the US and the UK. The report was based on a survey of 2000 people across 90 countries. The overall top 10 continued with Singapore, Canada, Switzerland, France, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Germany.
In the technology field, growth areas in Australia which Hydrogen singled out were cloud, analytics and big data — all areas we’ve consistently seen reporting a shortage of local experts. Australia was the fourth-most popular choice for technology professionals seeking to relocate (behind the USA, UK and Singapore).
Of course, there’s a noticeable gap between wanting to relocate and being allowed to, especially in a market like Australia which has relatively tough via barriers for relocating professionals. Nonetheless, it’s a reminder that competition for your next job won’t just come from locals.
Looking at the issue from the reverse viewpoint, working overseas remains a potentially useful way to enhance your career prospects. 77 per cent of those surveyed said that doing so had enhanced their career prospects, and 72 per cent said it had improved their salaries.
Have you worked overseas and found it beneficial to your IT career? Tell us about it in the comments.
Comments
6 responses to “IT Pros Eyeing Off Moving To Australia”
Not really. Heaps of international experience but that seems to be seen more as a threat or irrelevancy than an opportunity for local employers. Some local recruiters said I shouldn’t even bother looking in Australia, or indeed the southern hemisphere. Given the poor standard of recruitment process of local companies I’ve encountered (even well known names), I’m not surprised.
Tell me about it! I am coming from New Caledonia (a french island in the Pacific Ocean) and have relocated to Australia in 2008. I was lucky as my work visa (457 for the connoisseur) was granted before the GFC as most of the visas were frozen just after that. Getting the Permanent Residency was a lot easier as I was already there and in the shortlist (as you my have guessed it, it am in IT).
I think working internationally is really helpful for your career and the way you work. I have worked in France, New Caledonia, Australia (Brisbane and Melbourne) and even Cote d’Ivoire (official name for Ivory Coast in West Africa). Every single place has a different culture and things do not work the same everywhere, I even found a difference between Brisbane and Melbourne.
Having worked in several places allows me to adapt to the situation and the people a lot faster and more easily than people who haven’t. Even now, working for a mining company with mines in PNG, Africa, Indonesia and Australia, it has its importance.
I would recommend to everyone looking for a boost in career to consider it, as it open your mind and makes you more valuable.
I’m a US expat who’s worked in Australia for 4 years, recently gaining permanent residency here.
I came here, obviously, during the big US downturn aka the “Great Recession”. My IT employer laid of thousands at once, so competition for jobs that didn’t require moving was stiff, and wages were depressed to account for the surplus of available talent. I figured if I was going to have to move, I might as well “go big”. The most significant challenge I had was finding that first employer willing to sponsor me on a 457 temp visa. I went through a year of tourist visas and amazing amounts of savings during that process. Then I took a (heinous) pay cut. But I earned my stripes and am now established here, and earn rates competitive with colleagues in the US for my contributions at my employer — with a whole new set of friends from all over the world, and with a successfully completed major personal project (permanent residency) that required such a time commitment that it was my primary hobby for 6 months. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in very multicultural environments in Australia. In the US, “multicultural” in IT often means “with lots of Indians”, but it’s more diverse here, which has given me exposure to different work and communication styles.
I think it’s also valuable to see the differences in technology, regulations, workplace norms and ideas about how to use technology in business in multiple cultures. For example, in Australia, I have met many in IT that are reluctant to be on call after hours, even though it’s fairly normal in the US.
The US and Australian economies have not lately run on the same cycle. When one is stalling, the other is doing well, and vice versa. This means that no matter what’s going on, as long as we haven’t hit a WW III level of calamity, I can probably find a market that’s willing to pay fairly for my expertise. As I’m a lone wolf, multiple options for keeping food on the table are not a bad thing.
Can someone plz tell me why all photos or images of IT-Professionals are with suits and bla bla bla….For heaven sake we all know by now that most IT Professionals these days are dudes with shirts and Jeans, stop stop STOP putting pictures with dudes in suits!
Probably because the entire IT management strata, and a fair amount of the technical troops will actually be in suits, depending on the company culture, environment and sometimes, your customers. Obviously, your experience is different.
‘IT Professional’ encompasses more than the guy who puts in a new hard drive..that said, I would love to turn up to work in jeans and a casual shirt.
Only the bloke with the briefcase is wearing a suit
As much as the industry here is looknig for more IT professionals, I don’t think that people should be flocking to Australia and fixing up moving dates quite so quickly. Do you research before coming over for sure and make sure that you’ve really weighed the options before firming things up. Immigration is not that easy!