CIO OPINION of about 260,000 workers may emerge by 2025 . Furthermore , Australia ’ s unemployment rate just hit a 48-year low ( 3.4 %), meaning available applicants are few and far between .
Yet calls to cut costs in some way are likely to come and organizations which can ’ t control inflation or the talent shortage will look towards the thing they can control : spending .
At a time when IT skills are needed more than ever and job openings are increasing , it ’ s not only harder to find talent , but also to retain it : recent ABS data show that the Information , Media and Telecommunications sector ( encompassing IT ) has seen turnover of 10.1 % so far ( to Feb 2022 ).
Savvy CIOs will recognize this and begin to look at their options now , making a methodical step-by-step analysis of their environment to get ahead of the questions from the board .
Softening the blow
Many who left jobs were able to find higher-paying roles , with additional reports citing figures that the shortage and demand for talent is driving up starting salaries by 20 – 30 %. When people speak of ‘ The Great Resignation ,’ they can refer to the IT sector in Australia as evidence that it ’ s arrived on our shores .
Meanwhile , inflation is driving the cost of doing business higher . Supply chain issues are one of the key drivers of inflation , which is already at 6.1 % as of June 2022 . Everything from fuel to logistics and even the costs of IT hardware and replacement parts is affected , leading to lengthy delays and cost increases across the supply chain .
The collision of these two factors means all departments in any organization are at risk of budget cuts , including the IT department . Now , ideally budget cuts shouldn ’ t result in job cuts – with the talent shortage , it ’ s imperative organizations hold on to the talent they have .
While belt-tightening is key , they also need to go into this phase understanding that keeping the lights on is the most important baseline aspect of their IT operations . Therefore , CIOs may need to be creative .
• Figure out the must-haves . To keep any company running , there are some mission-critical or essential IT services and skills that can ’ t be cut from the budget . CIOs need to quickly determine what those key systems and services are and articulate to the board the business case for the retaining of their funding .
CIOs need to understand the organization ’ s objectives and help leadership understand the IT costs .
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