Work permits would ease skills shortage

Despite the best efforts of the Government, the education sector and industry, the skills shortage is retarding the development of indigenous technology companies. Sales are booming, the market is ripe to bring new products on stream, but can senior engineers be found to lead projects? Apparently not. One of the features of the global village is that it barely costs a thought for many people to up sticks and head to the other side of the world these days. Increasingly, graduates are voting with their feet and abandoning Ireland for more favourable climes, salaries and lifestyles. The resultant shortage of senior research and development engineers is not being satisfied within the European market either. This is why many Irish software companies have started to cast their net wider - into Eastern Europe and India where there is an abundance of software expertise. A recent meeting of the Irish Software Association served as a platform for these companies to share their experiences and discuss an immediate way of tackling the problem. What emerged was a consensus that the speedy issuance of work permits to non-EU citizens would be a welcome strategy for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to employ.

Mr Brian Caulfield, managing director of Peregrine Software, recently employed one Indian engineer and is currently considering taking on other non-EU employees, including a Vietnamese candidate. They are finding out about positions available within the company through its website and through Web-based recruitment sites, like The Irish Jobs Page (www.exp.ie).

"It's extremely cost effective as it often only costs hundreds of pounds for a lot of exposure instead of thousands of pounds for a once-off ad in traditional media. There are also considerable savings on the cost of recruitment consultants," says Mr Caulfield.

He says the procedure to recruit non-EU citizens is relatively simple. This is done through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, by completing a straightforward application form including a picture of the individual the company plans to recruit. Evidence is also required to show efforts were made to recruit an EU national for the job. This can be demonstrated through copies of Internet and paper-based advertisements.

However, the difficulties arise in the length of time it takes to process these applications. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment currently processes about 6,000 work permit applications annually. It is already snowed under with applications and it can take anywhere up to two months for the candidate to receive a work permit. This caused problems for Mr Caulfield when his recruit was offered another job in the US, where a permit can be speedily processed owing to the US's established recruitment policy in India.

"We were in a situation where we couldn't confirm a work permit was in place, but once the Department was notified they couldn't do enough and the permit was immediately issued. I really would like to see the Department receive additional resources to process the volume of work permit applications, and maybe introduce a preapproval process for people with certain defined skills," says Mr Caulfield.

Ms Mary Cryan, chairperson of the Irish Software Association, believes the introduction of such a strategy would go a long way towards ensuring key skills requirements were met. "The skills shortage is the single biggest limiting factor to growth. Other countries have effective work-permit processing systems in place, we can't afford to be complacent. If we want to remain competitive some kind of fast-track system for technically-skilled applicants would be very welcome," she says. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment says it shares the concerns of industry about the urgency of the skills shortage problem. According to Mr Peter Baldwin, principal in the Department's industries division, its personnel are fully aware of its commitment to meet skills requirements when dealing with high-tech applications. "Any suggestions about how the scheme might be improved are to be welcomed and taken on board for consideration," he says.

One new Irish company is taking the view that while the recruitment of non-EU citizens is to be welcomed, it is equally important to ensure a "quick-fix" policy is not adopted. Pace Institute specialises in recruiting technically skilled Indian personnel in a sustainable fashion. It will examine an Irish company with a well-defined software process and assess its engineering and development personnel requirements over five years, matching that company's needs with a team in India. Initially. one person will come to Ireland to build a relationship in the short term and become familiar with the company's processes. Then the development process can be synchronised between Ireland and India.

"We are approaching the problem from a strategic point of view, instead of the kind of bodyshopping stuff you see happening where staff leave after two years. It is not a cheap solution, but these companies desperately need high value-added expertise to grow their business. In the long term, products will get to market ahead of the competition and the companies form lasting partnerships with a development team they can trust with their product details," says Pace Institute managing director Mr Neil Salvi.