Various technological advancements are slowly but surely shaping the way Australians do business. The work-related hardware and software were only available to large companies and corporations a decade ago. Today, these advancements are being utilized by small and medium-sized businesses as well, allowing them to be profitable without having to invest enormous amounts of money on advertising and infrastructure.
This has resulted in IT sector blossoming not only in Australia but also the entire globe. Melbourne became the IT center of Australia and many of the top 20 IT and tech companies are situated there. Considering that the job vacancies in the IT sector have increased by around 8%, it’s safe to say that the demand for IT-related workforce will only continue to grow as the time goes by. Here are some of the jobs that will be shaping the future of Australian workplace in the next couple of years.
Cloud-based infrastructure and subsequent software solutions
Cloud-based technologies have allowed small and medium-sized companies to store all their data online, without having to resort to spending a sizable portion of their already limited budgets on hardware and software infrastructure. Without having to worry about physical locations and pay for various software licensing fees, SMBs can rely on enterprises specialized in data management and processing to handle all the work.
Fast Track is a recruitment platform from Australia that manages and processes large data volumes on a day-to-day basis. Its physical location might be Sydney, but their IT infrastructure is actually hosted by RockIT cloud, a company that provides managed IT services in Melbourne, which is located 700 kilometers away from Sydney.
Virtual remote communication
The number of companies working with remote employees is growing by the minute. This, of course, wouldn’t be possible if the technology wasn’t developed enough to support this type of business and companies are saving sizable chunks of cash by setting up virtual offices. The core startup team of usually made up of six people and every other employee these days is a virtual one. This distributed network of virtual employees has enabled businesses to invest their time and effort into creating a nearly paperless office, which is yet another technological trend gaining popularity in Australia as of late.
Remote working allows employers to pick out just the type of workers they need to finish a specific task while enabling workers to finish their jobs from any location with a decent internet connection. Only a few key positions in the company actually need to be physically filled with workers and all the tasks falling under their jurisdiction can simply be accomplished without the need for workers to meet each other in person. Side gigs, like participating in paid surveys online, are also becoming popular due to benefits of both participants and businesses.
Process automation and organization
Business automation has made it possible for companies to automate most of their work and manage projects and delegate tasks in a more optimized, performance-driven manner. Automation has greatly simplified work as we know it by streamlining communication between project managers and workers, enforcing accountability by creating owners for each individual task in the work process and minimizing the overall costs and any potential human-made errors.
Business organization tools have made keeping tabs on individual business processes a breeze and today, most SMBs are using automated workflow tools to help them tack the number of requests, manage their approvals and rejections and log the time spent on an individual task. Using custom workflows, project managers can assign specific approval responsibilities to literally anyone inside the company, no matter what their individual reporting structure is. This means that supervisors don’t have to be in the know about every single project the company is working on and can focus on their own individual responsibilities instead.
Performance analysis and monitoring
Lastly, advancements in technology have allowed business owners to actively monitor and analyze employee performance using numerous performance monitoring tools. The data obtained from these tools is later used as a basis for further adjustments in the way company employees work in order to further increase their productivity and make their jobs a lot easier and less boring or stressful, depending on the situation at hand.
Although some companies prefer letting their employees use self-monitoring tools, these can sometimes have an adverse effect and actually decrease employee performance by creating additional work and pressure to perform. There needs to be a middle path between monitoring and analyzing performance and actively getting in the way of accomplishing said work.
Business technologies are helping employees to become more efficient and more productive than ever before, regardless of the fact whether they are physically present or working remotely. They have also allowed business owners to cut back on infrastructure related costs and invest them into other parts of the business, thereby increasing the amount of work accomplished each day and maximizing profits. Business tech is here to stay and by the looks of it, it can only help companies become more efficient and productive in the days to come.
