The Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency (AWPA) has forecasted total ICT workforce growth of approximately 33,200 workers, or 7.1% between now and 2016-17, but "The reality is that the domestic supply of ICT skills has not kept pace with demand, and this will need to change if we are to move confidently into the digital century," said its CEO Robin Shreeve.

According to AWPA officials, "While recent enrolment trends in both higher education and vocational education and training (VET) are encouraging, there are high drop-out rates from courses, and some graduates have difficulty finding work in ICT occupations."

So, we have graduates that can't get work, a shortage of people entering training (due to "negative perceptions of male-dominated, desk-bound, repetitive, isolating jobs"), limited numbers of entry-level positions (possibly the result of many years of offshoring), and a shortage of skilled candidates.

The answer? According to the AWPA, we need to promote ICT careers, invest in professional development (PD) for ICT teachers, improve work/integrated learning programs, develop a graduate conversion program, and boost the engagement of under-represented groups.

That's not going to be easy. School students and their parents appear to have a largely negative view of ICT careers, having seen repeated waves of jobs going offshore, the hiring of foreign workers on temporary visas, and an unimpressive proportion of ICT graduates getting jobs in their field of study.

Professonal Development for teachers is a generally a good thing, but it does nothing to address complaints that graduates do not have the skills expected by employers.

Work and learning programs get a big tick, as it seems they do have a worthwhile affect on the employability of graduates.

But, graduate conversion programs? Hello employers! That's what you're supposed to do - take graduates and turn them into productive employees through specific formal and on-the-job training. Stop expecting other people to do all the work for you.

And, judging by the responses to recent iTWire articles on ICT employment (eg AIIA goes in to bat for 457 visas), the improved engagement of under-represented groups could easily start with older unemployed IT workers who have most, if not all of the skills, required and at most only need an opportunity for retraining on specific technologies. Ageism seems rife among Australian employers and the ICT sector appears to be one of the worst sectors in this regard, apart from on-screen television talent!