Are you being paid what you are worth?

[binboy]

Have a look at the results from teh most recent salary survey done by "My Career"


http://content.mycareer.com.au/salar...ommunications/

[Steve Bennett]

Life as a consultant seems pretty good (if you like that sort of work). From their 2008 annual report:

"The 2008 financial year was a year that combined continued strong growth and consolidation for the next stage of the business. During the 12 months to June 2008, Oakton achieved the following:

• Record revenue of $201.29m (up 75.3%), EBITDA of $41.01m (up 37.7%) and NPAT of $27.63m (up 34.6%)· Diluted earnings per share increased to 31.1 cents, 31.2% higher than last year· Record final fully franked dividend of 12.00 cents, up 17.1% on last year, making total dividend payout for the year of 23.00 cents, 13.6% higher
• than last year
• Ended June 2008 with 1,289 staff, 286 more than the same time last year
• Operating cash fl ow of $24.89m up 51% on last year
• Completion of the Acumen Alliance integration and brand transition
• Continued growth of Oakton's offshore operation in India· Increase in project size and duration
• Entered FY09 with the highest level of committed revenue
• Continued margin improvement post the Acumen Alliance integration
• Continued improvement in existing client service line ratios and introduction of new clients in existing and new locations
• Appointment of additional senior management
• Enhanced internal quality and risk management processes and upgrades to internal systems to manage business growth and scale."

I think about my salary and this came to my mind that I am getting the less salary as compared to my work.

[admin]

The Australian, Edition 1 - All-round Country

TUE 06 APR 2010, Page 025

Pay rises on the way as economic recovery exposes skills shortage



By: JENNIFER FORESHEW



Offers of large rises will tempt employees to switch companies

EMPLOYMENT

AS the economic recovery gathers pace, almost 50 per cent of technology professionals will seek increases in salary or non-financial benefits in the next six months, a survey finds.
Recruiters agree there will be mounting pressure on employers to deliver salary increases this year as skills shortages emerge.
The Michael Page Talent Engagement Survey, released today, shows 46 per cent are likely to seek a pay rise and other non-financial benefits, and of those, 38 per cent will ask for a salary increase, 26 per cent will ask for more responsibility or career advancement, and 20 per cent will seek additional training and professional development.
The responses, from about 600 IT professionals mostly in NSW and Victoria, show companies will be facing salary pressures after a period of stagnation because of the global economic downturn.
The survey shows popular non-financial incentives include a clearly defined career progression plan, workplace flexibility and recognition for achievements.
It reveals 32 per cent listed an increase in salary as the main motivator for a job change, followed by 21 per cent citing exposure to leading-edge technology and 17 per cent seeking more seniority.
``Those companies that review and revise their policies and put pay reviews on the agenda in the earlier part of the year will probably see the benefits of that, versus the companies that will hold off until the end of 2010,'' Michael Page technology managing director Jonathan Wiles said.
``Bearing in mind a lot of people have not had a pay review for at least 12 or 18 months, it is a key component of their decision whether to commit to a business or to make a move to achieve a greater salary.''
Mr Wiles said IT professionals could command salary rises of 3-10 per cent this year, depending on seniority and skills.
There would be strong demand for project managers, business analysts, developers, testers and specialist skills such as SAP developers, Microsoft Business Intelligence, integration architects and data architects, he said.
Brett Winn, chief information officer at telephone and web-based health services provider McKesson, said it had budgeted for salary rises of about 3-5 per cent this year.
US-based McKesson has about 850 staff in Australia and New Zealand, including about 50 IT professionals.
Mr Winn said the company had four roles open and had recruited 15 people in the past six months.
``We have been looking for everything from software developers to business analysts, project managers, database architects and we have struggled with every single role,'' he said.
``It is difficult to find good quality candidates at what six months' ago would have been competitive rates.''
The pressure to deliver pay rises this year comes as a Hudson IT survey shows employer sentiment has surged to the highest level of confidence in almost two years.
The Hudson Report: Employment Expectations survey released today shows Australian IT employer confidence has grown a further 1.1 percentage points, with a net 41.8 per cent of employers reporting plans to increase their permanent staff between April and June.
Hudson ICT national practice director Martin Retschko said it was the fourth consecutive quarter of rising sentiment.
``A lot of employees now feel with greater confidence that they can play a bit of catch-up, but a lot of employers certainly can't afford to pay that catch up,'' he said. ``In the next six months, there will be pressure on a lot of employers, with their employees talking about a merit review.''
Mr Retschko said investment in systems upgrades and replacements continued to drive confidence.
``I have seen salary increases of between 15 and 30 per cent not uncommon for people moving from one job to another organisation that is prepared to pay that sort of premium,'' he said.
Hiring intentions were expected to remain strong, driven by efficiency initiatives relying on technology investment in many sectors, including banking and finance, utilities and manufacturing, the survey finds.
Large infrastructure investment, including SmartGrid technology in the energy sector and the national broadband network, as well as government investment in technology to improve efficiency and services, would also drive the trend.
In NSW, integration and mergers in the banking sector continued to generate demand for IT professionals, with employer sentiment maintaining the strong result of last quarter, when hiring expectations surged.
A net 35.1 per cent of employers reported an intention to increase their permanent staff levels over the coming three months.
Tempering the result was the introduction of a shared services model by the NSW government, centralising IT services and procurement across departments.
Bringing together a wide range of ICT infrastructure including telecommunications, digital communications and back office support systems, the changes have had a big impact on the number and nature of IT services firms supplying the state government.
The report shows demand for IT staff has grown in the Queensland energy and resources sectors, the financial services sector and in some areas of government a net 44.4 per cent of employers report an intention to increase their permanent staff.
Victoria recorded the strongest IT sentiment nationally, up 6.2 percentage points to 47.8 per cent.
The findings are backed by Peoplebank's survey of its top 50 clients in mid-March for the April-June quarter.
Peoplebank chief executive Peter Acheson said jobs growth in the banking and finance sector for this quarter was up by more than 20 per cent since the lead-up to Christmas. ``There has been a strong uplift in permanent demand, which you typically get when underlying business confidence strengthens,'' he said.
Contracting also continued to increase, he said.
``I would be pretty confident that an annualised 4-5 per cent salary rise is about right,'' Mr Acheson said.
``I would also expect in NSW, Victoria and Canberra we will be in a skills shortage by the middle of the year.''
Advantage Professional director Robert Olivier said employers had already found that the pool of talent was shrinking.
If employees ``are going to move there has to be a compelling reason, and it is not going to be a marginal difference in salary, it is going to be a sizeable one'', he said.
The Advantage Job Index, formerly the Olivier Job Index, grew by 4.57 per cent overall in March, with online job ads in the technology sector rising 5 per cent.
An average of 19,662 technology jobs were advertised online in March.
The index, released yesterday, , shows instruction-training-writing roles were up 16.1 per cent last month, while desktop support and help desk vacancies rose 10.7 per cent.
Database development and administration roles were up 9 per cent. Internet, graphics and multimedia vacancies lifted 11.98 per cent, while system administration and support roles were up 9.12 per cent.
IT graduate roles jumped by 12.2 per cent last month, compared with 17.7 per cent overall.

[admin]

The Australian, Edition 1 - All-round Country

TUE 06 JUL 2010, Page 034

Recruitment outlook strong despite pause


By: Jennifer Foreshew


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THE uncertainty created by a jittery global economic outlook, the mining industry tax, a new prime minister and looming federal election combined to unsettle the recruitment market last month.
Despite these factors, the start of a new financial year has boosted IT employment prospects, according to recruitment experts.
Peoplebank chief executive Peter Acheson said the overall outlook was positive for IT hiring this financial year.
``This is because of the number of IT projects such as the banking core systems upgrades, insurance company upgrades, the smart grid projects in the utilities sector and strong activity in the telecom sector with the VHA (Vodafone-Hutchison merger) and National Broadband Network.''
He said the employment sector was off by about 2 per cent last month against May, which was usually the strongest month in the year.
``The feeling we are getting is that there may be a slight pause in the robust hiring we experienced in March, April and May,'' he said. ``However, the overall outlook for the year is strong.''
Key roles were project directors, project managers, business analysts, testers, developers (across the board), as well as web-based technologies.
The Advantage Job Index, released on Sunday, found IT&T online vacancies were up by 0.3 per cent for last month. The overall market experienced just a 0.14 per cent rise.
Advantage Resourcing global market intelligence director Robert Olivier said the outlook was likely to improve once local factors were resolved.
``IT is less vulnerable to all these ups and downs, so it is in a stronger position than most,'' Mr Olivier said.
Michael Page technology managing director Jonathan Wiles said a lot of demand in the market was being driven by contracting, but permanent recruitment was still making a return.
``I think there is a level of concern on what is going on in the broader economies around the world, particularly the non-Australian international head office businesses,'' Mr Wiles said.
``We are not in calm waters yet; we are still going to see a few storms and then in 2011 we will probably see a little more consistency.''
Michael Page expects the second half of the year to deliver it 25 per cent to 30 per cent growth on the first six months.
Taylor Coulter director Penny Coulter said as organisations invested more in IT projects, they were approaching their hires in a considered way.
``Organisations are seeking specialists or subject matter experts with a depth of experience in a particular domain.''
She said permanent recruitment had increased along with fixed-term hire and contract.
``As demand increases and supply reduces, as before, we will see candidates returning to contracting, or becoming contractors,'' Ms Coulter said.
Technical skills were in demand -- in particular, business intelligence, Java, SQL/Oracle, SAP, .Net, BPM and quality assurance professionals, she said.
Spark Recruitment director Luke Singleton said there had been a solid end to the last financial year.
``Some organisations are already working at a frenetic pace to try to secure enough of the right quality of talent for the projects they have scheduled in FY11. This is particularly prevalent in the retail banking markets as they cut hardest and deepest in the GFC,'' he said.
``With financial services starting to regenerate again, they have been taking the cream of the crop when it comes to contract and permanent staff, which in turn has seen a push again in contract rates.''
Troy Dawson, chief information officer of Rexel Group Australia, the country's largest wholesaler of electrical supplies, said the new financial year brought renewed optimism.

[admin2]

The Australian

TUE 05 OCT 2010, Page 029

Skilled staff on the move as hiring lifts

By: Jennifer Foreshew

THE technology employment sector surged in September by 5.57 per cent, seasonally adjusted, with much of the growth in software development, a study shows.

Recruiters also report a rise in companies replacing or upgrading IT systems as more quality candidates scope the market.
The Advantage Job Index reports a rise in job advertisements for the 13th consecutive week, with a 3.29 per cent rise nationally in September.

IT was among the best performing sectors for the month, ranking third behind healthcare (7.29 per cent) and accounting (6.57 per cent).

There was an 8.3 per cent rise in software development vacancies in September, indicating companies were starting to invest in new technology. The sector accounts for 35 per cent of job advertisements in the IT industry.

Networks, communication and security vacancies rose 4.9 per cent, while management and sales roles slipped 1 per cent and database development and administration remained flat.

Advantage Resourcing global market intelligence director Robert Olivier said the industry outlook between now and Christmas was good.

``People didn't kneejerk when the market picked up, they have waited and been careful, but they are starting to think seriously that now is a good time to move,'' Mr Olivier said. ``Salary pressures are inevitable, but in some ways they have been restrained as well.''

Peoplebank chief executive Peter Acheson said the strongest sectors continued to be the telecoms, utilities, insurance and retail sectors. ``Banking will come back on-stream throughout October and improved levels of hiring from the NSW government and some federal government departments will add to the strengthening IT market,'' he said.

Mr Acheson said only eight of the company's top 50 clients still had hiring freezes in place, and they were mainly federal government departments.

He said 26 clients were actively hiring and 16 were undertaking limited hiring.

``Many companies are updating systems or replacing IT systems sourced in the early years of the decade,'' Mr Acheson said.

A lot of replacement and upgrading of systems was going on, he said.

A secondary driver of hiring was large structural upgrades of corporate IT systems to drive innovation and competitive advantage, or due to regulatory reform.

Skills in demand were business analysis, project management, project direction, SAP, J2EE development and system design.
``We continue to expect to see IT demand strengthen for the remainder of 2010 and 2011,'' Mr Acheson said. ``We expect this will result in a very tight candidate market for IT people by mid-2011.''

Clicks IT Recruitment reported the strongest September for placements since the start of the global crisis. ``The only exception to this would be the ACT market, which was impacted by the inconclusive election result,'' chief executive David Stewart said.

Financial services continued to to be strong, with a large number of project-based vacancies.

``All of the big four banks are hiring aggressively and soaking up talent, which is now starting to drive contractor rates up,'' Mr Stewart said.

There was strong demand for candidates with business intelligence and data warehouse experience, while SAP remained the skill set in which demand exceeded supply.

``Candidates are increasingly willing to leave permanent roles for other permanent roles and long-term contracts,'' he said.
Spark Recruitment, which focuses mostly on technology infrastructure, has noted higher-quality candidates on the market.

Spark Recruitment director Luke Singleton said candidates had more confidence in their ability to get a healthy increase in salary or benefits.

``We are finding 70 to 80 per cent of candidates we talk to are passively looking as they are reviewing their circumstances,'' Mr Singleton said.