nbn skills shortage - overseas recruitment?

Recent news items

1) AN EXTRA 30,000 people need to be trained in basic electrical and cable skills for the government's new broadband network to be delivered on time, according to evidence given at a Senate committee hearing.

And the National Broadband Network legislation must contain minimum accreditation requirements to avoid haphazard electrical work, according to the head of Communications and Information Technology Training group.

''There are not enough electricians to do this work. That is a fact of life,'' the industry manager at CITT, Kevin Fothergill, told the committee.

2) As the national broadband network project evolves, field construction staff will be in high demand. In the long run, the eight-year project is set to create about 25,000 jobs.

NBN Co human resources officer Kevin Brown said a five-year, $23 million deal with Accenture announced last week would allow the company to focus on hiring while Accenture took care of administrative tasks related to the workforce expansion process.

NBN Co is on the hunt for systems engineers, network planners, testers, systems architects, project managers and IT professionals.

Recruitment specialists within NBN Co are confident the massive project will be able to attract top local talent.
According to Trevor Hoggan, NBN Co workforce planning and sourcing general manager, the company will formalise a panel of recruitment firms starting from the second quarter of 2010. In the past it has used up to 18 recruitment firms, including executive search firms Egon Zehnder and Korn Ferry International, on an ad-hoc basis.

Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said more emphasis should be given to training, especially the upskilling of copper network engineers to fibre.
With numerous large-scale broadband network projects all over the world, the grab for talent could leave Australia in a bind.

Comment

Opportunities here amid the confusion.