Employment Outlook for Information Media and Telecommunications

Employment Outlook for

Information Media and Telecommunications

Contents INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 3 EMPLOYMENT GROWTH...................................................................................................................... 4 EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS ................................................................................................................ 6 VACANCY TRENDS ............................................................................................................................... 8 WORKFORCE AGEING........................................................................................................................ 10 EMPLOYMENT BY GENDER AND FULL-TIME/PART-TIME ............................................................. 13 HOURS WORKED ................................................................................................................................ 15 EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS.................................................................................................. 16 Educational Profile..................................................................................................................................16 Median Weekly Earnings ........................................................................................................................17 Main Employing Regions ........................................................................................................................17 Main Employing Occupations .................................................................................................................18

ISBN 978-0-642-32998-1

Employment Outlook for INFORMATION MEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

2

Introduction The Information Media and Telecommunications industry is a small employing industry in the Australian economy, with 208 300 workers (or 1.9 per cent of the total workforce) as at February 2010.

The industry is made up of twelve sectors: Software Publishing; Internet Service Providers and Web Search Portals; Sound Recording and Music Publishing; Telecommunications Services; Television Broadcasting; Motion Picture and Video Activities; Data Processing, Web Hosting and Electronic Information; Radio Broadcasting; Newspaper, Periodical, Book and Directory Publishing; Libraries and Archives; Internet Publishing and Broadcasting; and Other Information Services.

The discussion below focuses on employment characteristics, trends and prospects in the Information Media and Telecommunications industry, including an examination of these issues in each of its main sectors. The analysis of characteristics includes workforce ageing, employment share by gender, educational profile, weekly earnings, average hours worked, regional and occupational employment and vacancies.

Most data in this Industry Outlook, and on SkillsInfo (www.skillsinfo.gov.au), are based on the ABS Labour Force Survey. For many small sectors within industries, standard errors are large relative to the size of the employment estimates. Although trend or annual average data are used for most employment estimates, figures should be used with caution, especially for the smallest employing sectors.


3

Employment Growth In the ten years to February 2010, employment in the Information, Media and Telecommunications industry decreased by 16 400 (or 7.3 per cent) to 208 300 (see Figure 1). This equates to a decrease, on average, of 0.8 per cent per annum. Figure 1: Employment Level (‘000) - February 1991 to February 2010

300

2 4 9 .3

250 2 2 1.6

2 2 4 .8

2 2 0 .7

2 3 0 .3

2 0 0 .6

200

2 3 7 .8 2 2 6 .5

2 2 3 .3

2 15 .3

2 13 .0

2 0 7 .6

2 3 4 .1

2 3 0 .2

2 0 8 .3

2 0 5 .7

18 6 .5

18 4 .7

18 5 .2

1998

1999

150

100

50

0 1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey cat. no. 6291.0.55.003 (DEEWR trend data)

Information Media and Telecommunications experienced a decline in employment in the early 1990s, due to the recession (see Figure 2). A further decline occurred in the year to 1998 (down by 21 000) associated with the impact of deregulation and privatisation on the Telecommunications industry. There was a sharp increase in employment recorded in 2000 (up by 39 600) followed by variability in annual employment throughout the past decade. More recently, in the year to February 2010, employment declined by 14 900, and by 22 800 in 2008. Figure 2: Employment Level (line RHS) and Annual Change (‘000) - year to February (cols LHS) 50

260 39.6

40

250

30

240 18.8

17.2

20

230

14.1

13.2

11.4

10

220

5.6

5.1

3.7

0.4 0

210 -3.2

-10

200 -14.1

-14.9

-20

-14.9

-17.3 -21.0

190

-22.8

-30

180 -34.2

-40

170 1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010



4

When employment in the Information Media and Telecommunications industry is broken down into specific sectors, the main contributors to employment can be identified. In February 2010, 43.7 per cent (88 900) of persons employed in the Information Media and Telecommunications industry were employed in Telecommunications Services, while 18.6 per cent (37 800) were employed in Newspaper, Periodical, Book and Directory Publishing (see Figure 3). Figure 3: Information, Media and Telecommunications Sectors - Employment Levels (‘000) February 2010 88.9

Telecommunications Services Newspaper, Periodical, Book, Directory Publishing

37.8 21.7

Television Broadcasting

19.9

Motion Picture, Video Activities

16.9

Libraries and Archives Radio Broadcasting

5.5

Data Processing, Web Hosting, Electronic Information

5.3

Internet Service Providers, Web Search Portals

4.7 2.0

Sound Recording, Music Publishing Internet Publishing, Broadcasting

0.4

Other Information Services

0.3

Software Publishing

0.1 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100



5

Employment Prospects DEEWR prepares annual updates of employment projections for industries for the next five years, the latest to 2014-15. The projections are an annual average for the five years. These are based in part on economic models, including Access Economics and the Monash model developed by the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University, but also take into account recent employment trends and prospective industry developments. It should be noted that a certain degree of uncertainty is attached to these employment projections. In the five years to 2014-15, employment in Information Media and Telecommunications is expected to grow by an average of 1.8 per cent per annum; the same as the all industries average (see Figure 4). This projected industry growth represents 19 600 new jobs. Figure 4: Recent and Projected Employment Growth (% pa) – to February 2010 (past) and 5 years to 2014-2015 (projected) 3.0

2.0

1.8

1.8

DEEWR Projection

All Industries Projection

1.0

0.0

-1.0

-0.8

-2.0 -2.3 -3.0

-4.0 -4.1 -5.0

-6.0

-6.7

-7.0

-8.0 10 year grow th

5 year grow th

2 year grow th

1 year grow th

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey cat. no. 6291.0.55.003 (DEEWR trend data); DEEWR projections to 2014-15


6

The sector with the highest employment growth is projected to be Libraries and Archives, with an average growth rate of 3.2 per cent per annum over the five years to 2014-15 (see Figure 5). Employment is expected to grow in all sectors except Radio Broadcasting, with a decrease of an average 0.2 per cent per annum. Figure 5: Information, Media and Telecommunications Sectors – Projected Employment Growth (% pa) to 2014-2015 Libraries and Archives

3.2

Internet Publishing, Broadcasting

2.9

Telecommunications Services

2.5


1.9


1.8

ALL INDUSTRIES

1.8


1.8


1.6


1.2

Sound Recording, Music Publishing

1.2


1.1

Software Publishing

0.5

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, Directory Publishing

0.4

Radio Broadcasting

-0.2 -0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5


The main contributor to growth over the last five years was the Libraries and Archives sector (up by 3300, see Figure 6). The largest decreases were in Telecommunications Services (down by 7600), Data Processing, Web Hosting and Electronic Information (6900) and Motion Pictures and Video Activities (5800). Looking ahead, in the five years to 2014-15, further employment growth of 11 800 is expected for Telecommunications Services. Figure 6: Information, Media and Telecommunications Sectors - Recent and Future Employment Growth (‘000) - 5 years to February 2010 (past) and to 2014-15 (projected) 11.8

Telecom m unications Services

-7.6 3.0 3.3

Libraries and Archives

2.3


-5.8 1.1


-1.0 0.7

New spaper, Periodical, Book, Directory Publishing

-2.4


0.4 -2.6 0.2 0.3


0.1

Data Processing, Web Hosting, Electronic Inform ation

-6.9 0.1 0.2

Other Inform ation Services Sound Recording, Music Publishing

0.0 0.9 0.0 0.0

Softw are Publishing

-0.1

Radio Broadcasting

-3.6 -10

-5

0

5 years to 2014-15

5

10

15

5 years to February 2010



7

Vacancy Trends DEEWR has developed an Internet Vacancy Index (IVI) covering all occupations across all skill levels. IVI is based on a count of online vacancies newly lodged on the four major job sites: SEEK, MyCareer, CareerOne and Australian JobSearch. The Industry IVI is based on the distribution of the IVI to broad industry groups using occupational and industry employment proportions from the ABS Labour Force Survey. Vacancies for the Information Media Telecommuniations industry relate closely to the vacancies for all occupations (see Figure 7). Over the year to February 2010, Information Media and Telecommunications vacancies decreased by 11.0 per cent (slightly less than the all industries average of 11.3 per cent). Figure 7: Internet Vacancy Index (IVI) – all industries and Information Media and Telecommunications – March 2006 to February 2010 (March 2006 = 100) 200 IVI total


180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40 Mar-06

Jun-06

Sep-06

Dec-06

Mar-07

Jun-07

Sep-07

Dec-07

Mar-08

Jun-08

Sep-08

Dec-08

Mar-09

Jun-09

Sep-09

Dec-09

Source: DEEWR Industry Internet Vacancy Index (three month moving average)1

1

Industry Internet Vacancy Index data can be found at www.skillsinfo.gov.au/LMI/VacancyReport


8

Between February 2008 and February 2010, internet vacancies for the Information Media and Telecommunications industry decreased in all States and Territories (see Figure 8). The largest decrease was for Queensland (down by 779, or 50.4 per cent), followed by New South Wales (1661 or 50.0 per cent) and Victoria (941 or 45.9 per cent). Figure 8: Number of Internet Vacancies by State/Territory – February 2008, 2009, 2010 4500

4000

Feb-08 Feb-09

3500 3324

Feb-10

3000

2500

2052

2000

1880

1663 1544

1500 1219

1110 1000

899

765

702

443

500

350 238

381

224

186 72

51

47

65

51

187

178

54

0 NSW

Vic.

Qld

SA

WA

Tas.

NT

ACT

Source: DEEWR Industry Internet Vacancy Index (three month moving average)


9

Workforce Ageing The age group with the largest share of employment in the Information Media and Telecommunications industry is 25 to 34 years (29.0 per cent), with a large number of workers also aged 35 to 44 years (24.3 per cent) and 45 to 54 years (18.5 per cent). The age profile for the Information Media and Telecommunications industry is broadly comparable with that for all industries (see Figure 9) but has a higher proportion of ‘prime age’ workers of 25 to 44 years (53.3 per cent compared to 45.1 per cent). Figure 9: Employed by Age compared with All Industries (% share of employment) - 2009 35

Median Age = 35.5 years 30

29.0

24.3

25

23.4 22.2

21.7 20

18.5

15 12.7

12.6 10.8 9.3

10 6.9 5

4.6 1.6

2.3

0

15-19

20-24

25-34

35-44

45-54


55-64

65 and over

All Industries

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey cat. no. 6291.0.55.003 (four quarter average)

Workers in the Information Media and Telecommunications industry have a median age lower than the average across all industries (39 years, see Figure 10). The median age of each sector within the industry varies from Libraries and Archives with a median age of 46 years, to Internet Publishing and Broadcasting with a median age of 26 years. Figure 10: Information, Media and Telecommunications Sectors - Median Age (years) - 2009 Software Publishing

0


46


41


40

ALL INDUSTRIES

39 38


38


36


36


36

Information Media and Telecommunications Radio Broadcasting

32


31


29


26 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey cat. no. 6291.0.55.003 (DEEWR special order, four quarter average)


10

Information Media and Telecommunications has a lower than average proportion of mature age workers with 29.4 per cent of its workforce aged 45 years or over in 2009 compared to 38.5 per cent for all industries (see Figure 11). Figure 11: Mature Age Workers (45+ years) - % share of employment - 2009 Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing

18 .6

29.0

Health Care and Social Assistance

Public Administration and Safety

14 .4

27.9

Wholesale Trade

22.3

14 .8

Manufacturing

22.2

14 .7

ALL INDUSTRIES

22.3

Mining

23.0

1.3

13 .2

20.8

Other Services

19.3

12 .8

Arts and Recreation Services

19.8

11.6

18.5

2 .6

12 .9

19.7

17.8

3 .2 3 .0

13 .6

Professional, Scientific, Technical Services

Financial and Insurance Services

3 .4 5 .5

15 .8

Administrative and Support Services

Information Media and Telecomm unications

3 .1

14 .5

23.1 19.5

Construction

2 .0

16 .1

24.8

Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services

2 .6 3 .8

17 .1

25.5

Electricity, Gas, Water, Waste Services

2 .7

16 .8

28.1

Transport, Postal and Warehousing

11.9

19 .1

26.9

Education and Training

2 .1 3 .3

12 .8

3 .0 3 .3

9 .3

1.6

10 .1

1.4

45-54 Retail Trade

9 .3

16.5

Accom modation and Food Services

7 .8

12.3

0

10

55-64

65+

1.8

1.2

20

30

40

50

60

70

(per cent)



11

Figure 12 shows employment by age group for three calendar years: 1999, 2004 and 2009. This provides a guide to changes in the employment mix by age group in the Information Media and Telecommunications industry. As the Australian workforce experiences an increase in the median age of the population, it is important that there is a supply of prime age and mature age workers entering the workforce. In the ten years to 2009, the number of workers aged 25 to 34 years rose by 7000, while workers aged 55 to 64 years rose by 7700. Figure 12: Employment by Age (‘000) - 1999, 2004 and 2009 80.0

69.2

70.0

64.8 1999

60.0

57.8

2004 54.9 54.6

2009

49.3

50.0

45.9 40.0 38.2

40.0

30.0

26.6 23.8 24.6 19.7

20.0 12.7 9.9

12.0

13.2

9.4

10.0

1.2

1.6

2.2

0.0 15-19

20-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65 and over



12

Employment by Gender and Full-time/Part-time The majority of workers in Information Media and Telecommunications are male workers employed full-time (see Figure 13). In the year to February 2010, this category made up 49.1 per cent of all workers in the industry, in comparison with 45.6 per cent of the workforce across all industries. Female full-time workers account for 30.8 per cent of employment in Information Media and Telecommunications compared with 24.7 per cent for all industries. Figure 13: Employment by Gender and Full-Time/Part-time (% share) – year to February 2010

60

50

49.1 45.6

40

30.8

30 24.7 20.9

20 12.1 10

8.8

8.0

0 Full-Time (Males)

Part-Time (Males)

Full-Time (Females)

Information Media and Telecom m unications

Part-Time (Females)

ALL INDUSTRIES


The female share of employment is larger than the male in five sectors within this industry: Other Information Services (83.0 per cent female); Libraries and Archives (78.5 per cent); Radio Broadcasting (53.3 per cent); Newspaper, Periodical, Book and Directory Publishing (52.2 per cent); and Internet Publishing and Broadcasting (50.5 per cent, see Figure 14). Figure 14: Information, Media and Telecommunications Sectors - Employment by Gender (% share) year to February 2010 Male % Share

Female % Share

0.0

Softw are Publishing

0 .0

84.6


15 .4

72.6

Data Processing, Web Hosting, Electronic Inform ation

2 7 .4

69.0

Telecom m unications Services

3 1.0

66.7


3 3 .3

57.1

Inform ation Media and Telecom m unications

4 2 .9

56.2


4 3 .8

54.9


4 5 .1

54.4

ALL INDUSTRIES

4 5 .6

49.5


5 0 .5

47.8

New spaper, Periodical, Book, Directory Publishing

5 2 .2

46.7

Radio Broadcasting

5 3 .3

21.5


7 8 .5

17.0

Other Inform ation Services

8 3 .0

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100



13

In the five years to February 2010, both male and female total employment in the industry have decreased (down by 8300 and 2400 respectively). In contrast, male part-time employment has increased (up by 2600, see Figure 15). The largest decline has been for male full-time workers, down by 10 900 workers. Figure 15: Employment Growth by Gender, (5 years) Full-Time and Part-Time (‘000) year to February 2010 4.0 2.6 2.0

0.0

-1.3

-1.1

Fem ales FT

Fem ales PT

-2.0 -2.4 -4.0

-6.0

-8.0 -8.3 -10.0 -10.9 -12.0 Males Total

Males FT

Males PT

Fem ales Total


The majority of the Information Media and Telecommunications industry sectors have a higher full-time employment share than the all industries average (70.3 per cent, see Figure 16). The highest full-time employment shares can be found in Television Broadcasting (91.9 per cent), followed by Internet Search Providers and Web Search Portals (91.2 per cent) and Telecommunication Services (89.8 per cent). The lowest share of full-time employment was apparent in Libraries and Archives (50.2 per cent). Figure 16: Information, Media and Telecommunications Sectors - % working full-time year to February 2010 Software Publishing

0.0


91.9


91.2


89.8

Radio Broadcasting

88.4


83.0


81.8


79.9


77.8


75.1


74.3

ALL INDUSTRIES

70.3


60.9


50.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100



14

Hours Worked The average full-time weekly hours worked in the Information Media and Telecommunications industry (39.6 hours) is lower than the average across all industries of 41.1 hours. The share of workers who worked 35 to 39 hours was higher in the industry (23.3 per cent) than the all industries average (17.4 per cent, see Figure 17). Figure 17: Hours of Work - year to February 2010 (% share) (Average hours w orked for full-tim e w orkers = 39.6)

25 23.3

20 17.4

17.8 17.0

15.4

15.3

15.1

15 13.4 12.8

12.7 12.0

10

9.6

9.5

8.8

5

0 1-15

16-29

30-34

35-39


40

41-49

50 or more

All Industries



15

Employment Characteristics Educational Profile The majority of workers within the Information Media and Telecommunications industry have a non-school qualification (67.4 per cent, see Figure 18). This compares with 61.3 per cent for all industries. The most prevalent non-school qualification in the industry is a Bachelor Degree or above (40.7 per cent), reflecting the importance of professional occupations in the Information Media and Telecommunications industry. While formal education is important in the industry as a whole, there is also a large proportion of workers with lower educational attainment including 32.6 per cent without a non-school qualification. Overall, the Information Media and Telecommunications industry provides a range of occupations and employment opportunities at all educational/skill levels. Figure 18: Educational Attainment (% share of employment) – May 2009 Total Non School Qualifications

67.4

Bachelor degree or above

40.7

Advanced diploma and diploma

9.0

12.1

Certificate III and IV

3.3

Certificate I and II Certificate not further defined

1.5

0.8

Level not determined Without a Non School Qualification

32.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Source: ABS Education and Work, Cat. no. 6227.0 (DEEWR special order, May 2009)


16

Median Weekly Earnings The median weekly full-time earnings for the Information Media and Telecommunications industry are above the corresponding median earnings across all industries ($1100 compared with $1000 for all industries, see Figure 19). Within the industry wages vary by sector from $1250 for Radio Broadcasting to $750 for Internet Service Providers and Web Search Portals. Figure 19: Information, Media and Telecommunications Sectors Median Weekly Earnings (Full-time and before tax) - August 2008


$0


$0

Software Publishing

$0

Radio Broadcasting

$1,250


$1,150


$1,127


$1,100 $1,000

ALL INDUSTRIES Television Broadcasting

$1,000 $958

Libraries and Archives Motion Picture, Video Activities

$865


$850


$800


$750 0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Source: ABS Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Cat. no. 6310.0 (DEEWR special order, four quarter average)

Main Employing Regions As Figure 20 shows, Sydney has the largest number of workers employed in Information Media and Telecommunications (67 400), followed by Melbourne (56 900) and Brisbane (22 800). The Information Media and Telecommunications industry is mainly concentrated in highly populated metropolitan areas, with fewer workers in more rural and remote regions, such as Western New South Wales (1200). Figure 20: Main Employing Regions (‘000) – year to February 2010 Sydney

67.4

Melbourne

56.9

Brisbane

22.8

Perth

13.2

Adelaide

9.2

Southern NSW (incl ACT)

8.1

Hunter

7.8

Western Victoria

5.7

Central and North QLD

5.4 3.4

Tasmania SA Country

2.6

Eastern Victoria

2.5

Southern QLD

2.1

Northern Territory

1.9

Northern NSW

1.7

Greater WA

1.7

Western NSW

1.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80



17

Main Employing Occupations It is useful for job seeking and career advice purposes to identify key occupations within an industry. Occupations are generally spread across a variety of industries and may not normally be associated with particular industries. In 2009, the largest employing occupations in the Information, Media and Telecommunications industry (see Figure 21) were Journalists and Other Writers (11 500) and Telecommunications Trades Workers (10 800). Figure 21: Top 20 Employing Occupations (‘000) –year to 2009 Journalists and Other Writers

11.5

Telecom m unications Trades Workers

10.8

Sales Representatives

8.4

Artistic Directors, Media Producers & Presenters

7.5 7.5

Film , Television, Radio and Stage Directors

7.3

Inquiry Clerks ICT Sales Assistants

6.6

Librarians

6.5

Advertising and Sales Managers

5.9

Call or Contact Centre Workers

5.1

Keyboard Operators

5.1 4.8

ICT Managers Telecom m unications Engineering Professionals

4.7

Library Assistants

4.7 4.7

Graphic and Web Designers, and Illustrators Perform ing Arts Technicians

4.4

Other Miscellaneous Labourers

3.9 3.7

General Clerks Softw are and Applications Program m ers

3.6

Contract, Program and Project Adm inistrators

3.6

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Source: ABS Labour Force Survey cat. no. 6291.0.55.003 (DEEWR special order, four quarter average)

Further information on occupations is available on the Job Outlook website (www.joboutlook.gov.au)

For further information on the Information, Media and Telecommunications industry (or other industries), visit the SkillsInfo website at www.skillsinfo.gov.au. SkillsInfo provides a range of skills related information for industries and regions. The website offers a broad range of information on employment, careers, education and training and skills issues - including workforce ageing, skills in demand, labour force data, ICT and employability skills, as well as quick links to skills information. Data are sourced mainly from the ABS Labour Force Survey.

SkillsInfo also brings together a large collection of links to external industry and skills related websites.


18