The software human resource council recently published the results of a national survey on the Canadian job market in the information technology sector. A portrait of work in the IT industry.
The retirement of the baby-boomers is less of a concern for the IT sector, with an average workforce age of 36 years, managers with an average age of 40 years. It’s a man’s world; women barely constitute more than a quarter of the workforce. However, they are the majority in the field of technical writing, where they make up 74% of employees and in the fields of graphics design and illustration (61%).
For job seekers, the Internet constitutes the main source of information on jobs (66%); this average being more important than the informal network (58%) and classified ads in newspapers (53%). For their recruitment however, employers use mainly employee recommendation, word of the mouth and unsolicited curriculum vitae.
The bigger the firm, the bigger the territory covered for staff recruitment, while lack of experience constitutes the biggest obstacle to hiring.
The visible minorities still have little place in this field. The Québécois public sector constitutes few visible minorities (3%) compared to Ontario (25%). Handicapped and indigenous persons are even less represented.
Employees work 41 hours per week in the public sector and 44 hours in the private sector, making an average of 43,2. Excessively long working weeks therefore seem to be the exception. Half of employees have a university degree and a quarter have a college diploma or equivalent.
The graduates do not necessarily have a degree in information technology, far from it. Information technology comes in first place (27%), followed by the Arts, human sciences or social sciences (24%). Altogether, the various areas of intellect constitute good breeding ground for employers (32%).
Characteristic competences for an IT job are certainly important, but analytical and communications competences are even more so, while there is a need for educated persons for the programming and management of projects. They mainly make up for it through self-education or informally through discussions with colleagues or supervisors.
The average annual salary in information technology is around 62 000$. However, it varies considerably according to regions, going from 44 231 in the Maritimes to 76 639 in Ottawa-Gatineau. For six workers out of ten, this salary includes advantages such as bonuses, shares options and profit-sharing. Bonuses are by far the most desired!
Contract workers are rarely employed, you will find less than 10% in large and medium companies, but 17% in small ones. Private companies perceive little interest in turning contract workers into salaried employees, although there is much greater interest in the public sector.
Advice to employers who want to avoid staff turnover: its interesting projects which motivate employees to change jobs much more than salary. Long live innovation!