Digital transformation creates demand for more IT staff

Around 35,000 new IT jobs will be needed in 2019, with almost one in five Australian organisations creating new internal roles to meet the growth of digital transformation.

A study by DXC Technology and technology analyst Telsyte shows roles such as, data architect and business intelligence analyst are in huge demand – especially in banking and finance; administration; support; and professional services.

The study, Beyond Disruption: Australian organisations race to digital transformation success also provides an insight into the digital challenges and opportunities of 447 Australian organisations.

According to the study 41 per cent of local organisations see a whole of business-wide digital strategy as the dominant approach for managing digital transformation. This is almost the same proportion as those that are still adopting a siloed business-unit approach. 

Also one in five organisations are set to create artificial intelligence (AI) specific roles; with almost half of the organisations surveyed seeing AI and employees working together to complete tasks. Nearly two thirds (57 per cent) believe more jobs will be created than taken away by digital transformation.

The study also shows local businesses have advanced in their digital process, from modernising the workplace and workforce, to a customer experience strategy. More than 60 per cent of large organisations cited customer experience as a top five business priority when it comes to implementing a digital strategy.

In considering which technologies to employ for digital transformation, two-thirds of respondents indicated they are already spending or considering investments in 5G and cellular IoT.

However digital transformation within an organisation has the potential for failure, if employees don't participate with the technology. About a quarter of organisations say a lack of employee engagement is a likely reason for digital transformation failure, said Seelan Nayagam, managing director for DXC in ANZ.

“Less than one-third of organisations today are providing their employees with digital transformation training, indicating more needs to be done to take employees on the transformation journey,” he said.

“To achieve success, employee education must be the cornerstone of any digital transformation program and not regarded as an afterthought.”