Australia is likely to see a sharp increase in the number of jobs available in the IT sector.

This is according to the country's Computer World, which has predicted that the industry did not feel the impact of the global financial crisis as strongly as in other countries.

Forecasts now suggest that the market, which slowed slightly during the downturn, "is about to go up again", with a leap in employment during the first quarter of this year.

The Australian Computer Society witnessed 13,000 individuals joining the market over the past year and journalist James Hutchinson explained in an article for the publication that "projects have ramped up so quick that some software testing firms have reported they are unable to find enough employees to properly test systems".

Meanwhile, some experts are predicting a skills crisis and the Computer World Australia 2010 Salary Survey indicated that workloads have increased for staff in the field, although salaries have been slow to increase.

Those seeking IT jobs in Australia may also be interested to learn that the country saw its workforce participation rate climb by 0.2 percentage points to 65.5 per cent in July, boosted by an additional 23,500 people in work.

Posted by Kate Griffin