Market Update
Following the Australian budget from the new Labor government there is a feeling of change in the air. Market conditions have significantly shifted from mid-this year, forecasts look down for 2023 and job opportunities are starting to change. On top of this is all the news, doom and gloom across the globe from war, to environmental crises, global markets, political unsteadiness and more. Wow what a 2023 outlook!
Budget pressure for government departments
The market in Canberra and Federal government has taken a significant shift. Government departments have been reviewing their budgets and looking at opportunities to stop, hold or deprioritise projects to manage their spend. The May 23rd Federal budget will be very interesting and will show a clearer picture and direction of projects, commitments and activities in-flight across government. I expect to see significant reductions in investments and overall changes with a lot of pressure on departments to do more with less. This will translate into further impacts on consultancies and firms that are more advisers and less doers.
Market Outlook 2023: Budget dropped, market unsteady, government departments making cuts and risk ahead….
Consultants and contractors under pressure and APS to step up
The government recently announced a big push to reduce the reliance on consultants and drive up investment in APS capability. This presents an additional pressure on the jobs market for consultants and contractors but the big question is how will the work get done?
The idea and concept makes sense, but it will be a very long journey with significant reform required. For consultants and contractors that are in ICT delivery there will continue to be wide opportunities for the right talent and commitment. The capacity and capability in the APS across ICT is not there to meet the demand. We do however expect some pressure on contract terms and rates and there to be more competition in the market for roles and opportunities.
Opportunities in Customer/Citizen Data and Experience
Amongst all the doom and gloom some opportunities arise. There continues to be opportunity across the customer, data and ICT projects environment with organisations across Australia looking at their cyber, ICT and customer data environments following the data breach crisis of Optus and Medibank.
Boardrooms and Government Departments are assessing their current risk profile and driving more investment into cyber now. This needs to be a much more broader conversation about customer data, privacy, process, people and the technology that enables this which presents big opportunities ahead for organisations that see the full customer data picture beyond just cyber!
We have invested into the customer data platform institute for this very reason and organisations and departments will have the opportunity to become a member in 2023 and help drive their organisational capability in data governance, platforms and people. More to follow in the coming months.
Doing more with less (an agile way)
Agile has been a long established term within the public sector, but 2023 will test the capability more than any year prior. The doing more with less approach, will force agile methods and processes further, throwing away the long-term schedules and big projects that governments have become known for.
Practised Agile practitioners including Scrum Masters and Agile Product Owners will see more opportunities to practise Agile delivery in its true sense next year. Cue-X started offering training in these fields in 2022, and we intend to keep it up in the new year. For those that are also experienced in more agile systems including cloud based technology such Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, SAP, Pega and more the opportunities, rates and projects will continue to present.
Outlook for the year ahead
2023 will be a different year. For those that can see the opportunities and make changes to meet the different needs of the market will continue to grow and build in a very difficult and challenging market next year. The opportunities in customer, data and ICT delivery are there and will continue to grow for those smart enough, fast enough and bold enough.
Enjoy your break with family and friends and look forward to talking more in 2023.
Dan Marks
CEO CUE-X Group, Canberra, Australia
About CUE-X
CUE-X has a team of experienced consultants and contractors that work across many of the major federal government agencies. CUE-X specialises in the advice, delivery, management, recruitment, training and development of ICT programmes, voice of customer, customer data, business transformation, programme management and organisational change. Dan Marks is the Chief Executive Officer of CUE-X and has more than 20 years experience across government, Australian and global organisations. Dan is based in Canberra and works in government across major ICT program delivery. For more information go to www.cue-x.com
