Managers looking to fill vacant IT positions should expand their searches beyond traditional methods, according to Morgan & Banks.
"Companies are getting a lot more imaginative with where they're getting their staff from," Matthew Gordon, NSW state manager for technology at Morgan & Banks, said.
The consultancy's latest Job Index released today indicates around 22 per cent of employers actively use the Internet to source staff.
Gordon noted the Internet was used to complement conventional recruitment methods, such as print advertising. However, he said employers should exercise caution with Internet recruitment.
"You do get an awful lot of applications from overseas and often they're entirely inappropriate," Gordon warned.
Additionally, both the public and private sectors are beginning to accept more candidates who are not residents, he said.
"They [employers] need to be a little less parochial in who they employ," Gordon said. More flexible work practices, such as working from home, were also being more widely used in an effort to attract a higher calibre of applicant, he said.
"Global competition means the industry is employing IT people to maximise customer relationships," Gordon said.
Almost 42 per cent of firms in the Australian IT industry intend to create new jobs compared with a industry-wide average of 26 per cent, Gordon said.
The Index showed almost 70 per cent of ACT IT firms and around 47 per cent of Queensland-based IT firms intend to create new jobs in the coming year.
Gordon said there are still around 35,000 unfilled IT positions in Australia, a situation he says is not likely to change within the short term.
Almost three-quarters of employers in Australia will move up to 10 per cent of their traditional business operations to e-commerce this year, according to the survey.