While the IT workforce has increased by 60% in the past decade, the Australian Computer Society (ACS) suggests a different approach is required in the race to meet a target of 1.3 million technology workers by 2030.
Todd Pavlou, General Manager of Recruitment and Management Services at MEGT Australia, says overcoming that deficit requires the placement of job-ready candidates within existing IT workforces.
“We must take a multi-faceted approach that goes beyond traditional education pathways like university. IT traineeships are a great way to bring IT staff into a business. They appeal to young people and more mature career switchers, improving workforce diversity”.
IT traineeships can help overcome the skills deficit
MEGT offers an effective and low-risk way for employers to onboard IT trainees. As a registered Group Training Organisation (GTO), MEGT is the legal employer, offering an end-to-end service that includes support for every aspect of IT recruitment, onboarding, coaching and employment administration including payroll services. This vastly simplifies the process for organisations that want to offer traineeships.
MEGT’s partnership with South Australia’s Department for Education exemplifies how a GTO delivers value. As host employer, the Department provides day-to-day training and supervision of trainees who have been placed within the Department’s IT team. MEGT provides specialist recruitment services to ensure the best match between trainee and host employer, along with ongoing coaching and support, not only to trainees but also to their supervisors.
This extra layer of support has been critical to the success of traineeship placements within the Department, where 85% of trainees go on to full-time work after they complete their training.
Creating opportunities for more people
Tom Slape worked as a sommelier and restaurant manager before realising his true passion lay in the information technology space. The traineeship he completed with the Department and MEGT has been career defining and life changing.
“This traineeship has given me a foundation for the role that I’m doing, but it also opens up such a wide variety of job opportunities”, he says.
Mr Pavlou says IT traineeships deliver benefits for employers and trainees.
“Every organisation that wants to prosper in the future is going to need to invest in digital skills. Traineeships are a great pathway to achieve that”.
“Most of our trainees have a few years of workforce experience in unrelated industries like hospitality or the defence sector. They bring the life and business skills they learned in those roles and complement those with what they learn in their traineeship.
“They typically have a good understanding about how a business is run and can apply real-world experience as they learn and boost their technical skills, meaning they deliver value to an organisation from day one”.
Turning recruitment challenges into success stories
Trainees who receive support via MEGT’s group training model are 30% more likely to achieve their qualifications vs the national average.
Ryan England is the Senior Engagement Lead for ICT Services at the South Australian Department for Education. He says trainees learn systems and technologies the Department uses to hopefully forge long-term careers.
“We’re always looking for good people and having MEGT as our traineeship provider means we can get young individuals into our organisation, train them up, teach them the systems and tools that we have. The rest is up to them”.
Invest in the future of your organisation and Australia by bringing an IT trainee into your business.
To find out more about MEGT’s IT Traineeship offering or to talk to a consultant visit the MEGT website, or call 13 4767.
