FEMALES ARE grossly underrepresented in the IT industry, and as such, the industry is in serious need of an image makeover if it is to attract an adequate number of talented professionals, according to recent research
FEMALES ARE grossly under-represented in the IT industry, and as such, the industry is in serious need of an image makeover if it is to attract an adequate number of talented professionals, according to recent research.
“Technology is an enabler across all areas of business and the public sector, making high tech careers critical to Australia, and a strong choice of profession,” said Deborah Howard, managing director of Diversiti, the recruitment arm of Accenture.
“Despite this, we still see employers losing sleep over attracting and retaining talent. The question has to be asked: why? Females, half of our population, are grossly under-represented in the industry.”
Commenting on a recent survey of 365 companies, Howard said 56 per cent of those surveyed work in organisations where fewer than 30 per cent of their total IT hires in the past 12 months were female. A further 21 per cent said that females made up fewer than 10 per cent of their hires in the same period.
The survey also found a review of current sourcing strategies and training programs is needed to address concerns expressed about recruiting the right skill set (69 per cent) and retaining talent (63 per cent) as top staffing challenges in the next 12 months.
Offshoring will have the greatest impact on software development and programming (78 per cent), as well as call centre and technical support (70 per cent).
“Offshoring is a contentious issue, but the fact is we’re in a global market and the employment landscape is changing,”said Howard.
