The demand for information technology (IT) is increasing rapidly in Australia, but the country is seriously lacking in human resources, so this is an opportunity for Vietnamese IT  companies to provide services and products to Australia.

The application of information technology in all aspects of social life is no longer a choice but has become an irreversible thing in the world. In particular, the birth and application of artificial intelligence (AI) in many aspects of life is creating strong changes not only in research but also in daily life. The recent birth of the ChatGPT tool is a clear proof.

Australia market has great potential

Australia is not out of the general trend of the world. The Australian government has set a goal of becoming the world's leading digital economy by 2030. And to achieve this goal, Australia plans to spend 1.2 billion AUD (equivalent to more than 900 million USD) to promote digitalization in all areas of life. Promoting the digital economy is causing the IT industry in Australia to develop rapidly. According to Statista's forecast, the revenue of the IT market in Australia could reach 33.11 billion USD in 2023. By 2027, the market value of this industry in Australia will reach 44.8 billion USD.

 Statistics also show that the revenue of the entire segment of foreign partners providing IT services and products to Australia could reach $12.7 billion. By 2027, the total value of this segment could reach $16.59 billion.

Labor shortage in IT field

To achieve its goal of becoming the world's leading digital economy, Australia will need 1.2 million workers in the IT sector by 2030. However, according to data released by the Department of Vocational Training and Skills in May 2023, Australia only has 930,000 workers in this sector.

A typical example is the story of the lack of Information technology  human resources at National Australia Bank (NAB), one of the four largest banks in the country. Mr. Ross McEwan, CEO of NAB, said that despite being a reputable brand and making a lot of efforts, NAB still lacks up to 700 employees working in the fields of data, digital and technology, which has affected the bank's operations. To overcome this situation, in 2022 NAB decided to establish an IT center in Ho Chi Minh City with its partner Positive Thinking Company to gather software developers, data experts, digital designers, software engineers, and data analysts to undertake tasks supporting NAB's operations.

More: Cloud computing trends you need to know in 2024

IT Outsourcing - An effective solution to compensate for the shortage of human resources

Faced with the reality of labor shortage in the information technology industry, the Australian government is promoting two main solutions. The first is to encourage IT workers to come to this country to work.

According to data released by the Ministry of Vocational Training and Skills in May 2023, the workforce working in the IT  sector increased by 8% in 1 year and increased by 15% compared to 3 years ago. In which, the workforce working in fields such as software development, data analysis, and cybersecurity in non-technology companies such as banks or supermarkets witnessed a stronger increase than other fields.

However, in the long term, Australia is promoting the encouragement of people to study and work in this field. Since 2020, the Australian government has decided to provide funding to reduce 20% of tuition fees for Australians studying information technology. At the same time, the Australian government is also paying full tuition fees for people participating in some vocational training courses in this field.

However, both of these solutions have certain shortcomings, such as having to wait a long time to bring foreign workers to Australia to work. Mr. Lucio Piccoli, CEO of SiteSee Company, said that the procedure for recruiting foreign employees takes a long time and if everything goes smoothly, this process can take up to 1 year. In addition, recruiting foreign workers will also cause companies to spend a large amount of money on training and stabilizing the lives of workers. Not to mention, foreign workers also need a certain amount of time to get used to the new job and environment.

This is not just the story of SiteSee but many other companies in Australia, including NAB. Because they could not wait to recruit enough IT  positions in the company, Mr. Ross McEwan said, NAB decided to work with a third party to establish an IT center in Vietnam with 600 employees.        

In this context, outsourcing part or all of the IT  work to foreign companies is considered a solution with many benefits. First is cost reduction. Mr. Nguyen Huu Le, Chairman of the Board of TMA Technology Group, who has worked with Australian partners since 2010, said that the cost of an IT  worker in Vietnam is much more attractive than the cost of an IT worker in Australia.

Besides, if you hire foreign companies to do these jobs, there will be a team with in-depth experience and extensive knowledge to support, so the quality of work and service will be improved.  Hiring a foreign partner will also help the company quickly make up for the shortage without having to worry about building systems, working processes and training employees.

Because of these advantages, outsourcing IT services and products is growing strongly in many developed countries, including Australia.

Figures from research firm ISG Research show that Australia ranks fifth among countries with a need to outsource IT services and products to foreign companies, behind Germany, the US, the UK and Japan, and ahead of India, Canada, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland.

More: 5 IT Outsourcing trends businesses need to pay special attention to

Vietnam - A Potential IT Service Provider

According to TopDev, out of Vietnam’s current population of 100 million, more than 500,000 people are working in the information technology sector. On average, this workforce is supplemented by more than 50,000 people each year.

Not only is the quantity large, the level of the workforce in the IT  industry in Vietnam is also highly appreciated by independent organizations. According to the Developer Skills Charts of Hackerrank, which evaluates the level of the workforce in the IT industry, Vietnam is ranked 23rd. In the World Ranking of the Best Programmers Survey, Vietnam is in the Top 10 of the world.... Kearney's 2021 Global Services Location Index also ranked Vietnam 6th among the world's leading countries in software outsourcing services. Accelerence also rated Vietnam as one of the two leading software outsourcing destinations in Southeast Asia in 2022.

Being highly regarded in the international labor market is making Vietnam an attractive destination for foreign companies looking for partners in the technology sector. According to a report published in 2022 by TopDev, Vietnam has 67,198 digital technology companies, an increase of more than 32% compared to the period before the Covid-19 pandemic. Revenue from the information and communications technology sector in Vietnam in 2021 reached more than 136 billion USD, an increase of 9.6% compared to 2020.

More: IT Outsourcing trends in the context of global economic recession

Effectively exploit opportunities in the Australian market

Providing IT products and services to Australia has been implemented by Vietnamese companies since early 2010. Mr. Nguyen Huu Le said that Vietnamese technology companies have many advantages when providing IT  services to Australia. Firstly, the workers have a very positive working attitude, which is very proud when many people are always looking for opportunities to do their jobs better. They are also willing to sacrifice their personal time, work hard, regardless of day or night, Tet, holidays to meet work progress or when required by customers. Secondly, Vietnamese workers are also very hard-working, quick learners and intelligent, so they can access new technology very quickly. Thirdly, Vietnam is about 2 to 3 time zones away from Australia's two largest economic centers, Sydney and Melbourne, so it is very convenient for exchanging and communicating with Australian partners. Fourth, the increasingly close relationship between the two countries is opening up many opportunities for people and businesses on both sides to understand each other better and increase trust and confidence in cooperating with each other.

However, to effectively exploit opportunities in the Australian market, Vietnamese businesses and workers in the IT  sector need to make more efforts.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Son, Director of Gaxa Company, specializing in IT consulting, said that after 11 years of representing a Vietnamese IT company in Australia, he believes that language is one of the issues that needs to be improved significantly. Not only speaking and listening well, people working in the IT  field in Vietnam also need to learn how to express themselves so that customers can understand them. Not only that, IT  staff also need to quickly understand what customers mean. This is not a simple issue because it requires understanding of culture, behavior and knowledge in the field of expertise.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Son believes that, in addition to improving professional skills, to meet customer requirements and provide suitable products and services, people working in the IT field in Vietnam also need to supplement their professional knowledge.

For Mr. Lucio Picoli, after the experience of cooperating with a partner in Thailand, where there could be a power outage for 2 consecutive days, making it impossible for workers to work, in order to sign a contract to provide IT  services and products to an Australian company, the technology company needs to have competitive prices, workers need to be ready to work and need to have data security and safety. And for those who are starting to learn about the environment and capacity of Vietnamese companies, Mr. Lucio Picoli hopes to have a government agency website that introduces an overview of the policies, environment, capacity and strengths of the IT  industry in Vietnam as well as the products and services that companies in Vietnam can provide. Having a government agency website posting this information will make the information more reliable and serve as a basis for foreign partners like Mr. Lucio Picoli to continue to learn more about cooperation opportunities with Vietnam.

Both Vietnam and Australia are witnessing strong growth in the field of information technology and it is worth noting that the two countries can complement each other in this field. The governments of both countries have also laid solid foundations for the bilateral relationship and continue to develop this relationship to new heights. This context is creating opportunities for businesses of both countries to exploit each other's advantages and become reliable partners of each other.

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