TechnologyOne has been forced to search for talent overseas as the local ICT skills crisis intensifies, claimed the enterprise software vendor.

Adrian Di Marco, executive chairman, TechnologyOne told CRN the skills shortage in Australia has reached a critical point and anticipates an increasing number of organisations will set their sights abroad when hiring staff.

“Bringing staff from overseas has become an important part of our strategy, so has doing R&D overseas … it isn’t ideal, it’s just one of those things you have to do,” he said.

Hiring between 150 and 200 people on average per year, Di Marco claimed the lack of IT professionals in the Australian market has made it extremely difficult for TechnologyOne to maintain an employee base of that scale without resorting to overseas recruitment.

“It’s been a gradual process, but for the last 18 months we’ve been looking for alternative ways to resource,” he said.

According to DiMarco, the strategy is hardly ideal as there are several costs associated with interviewing and relocating potential employees.

“Compared to hiring locally, it’s a more expensive and long-winded process. This is really a last resort,” he explained. “There’s also the cultural issue, you want people who will match up culturally in your work environment.”

Australian employees represent 85 percent of TechnologyOne staff, however DiMarco said the vendor is in a better position to manage the current situation with an established R&D facility in Queensland. Other IT businesses are not as fortunate, he stated.

DiMarco places responsibility at the feet of the State and Federal governments, arguing that elevating the image of IT and providing better opportunities for Australian students are issues that need to be addressed immediately.

“The government needs to make university places more attractive to Australian kids. I think it’s criminal we have HECS, we saddle kids with these fees and it acts as a deterrent,” he said. “Fundamentally, it comes down to funding our universities properly. Let’s start talking about the sciences at grade 11 and 12 to promote science streams in young kids.”

He added: “The government has a huge problem, we have $25 billion trade deficit caused by IT and it will balloon out further and further if we don’t build a strong vibrant IT industry.”