Skills shortage means IT qualification is guarantee of employment

According to recent research, chief executives are more concerned about the impact of skills shortages than at any point in the last several years.

Many say access to top talent is the main reason for collaborating with other organisations.

Recently, the Government launched an initiative called TechLife to market Ireland as a place to live and work.

The initiative aims to attract foreign talent to come and fill the tech jobs we have here, such is the battle for talent in the tech sphere.

Jarlath Dooley, HR and operations director at IT consultants Version One, says since he entered the tech sector 20 years ago, there has been a skills shortage each year.

“In the last few years this has accelerated and the gap has widened. Because of the proliferation of IT everywhere now and all the buzzwords like the internet of things and big data and mobile, it is all creating huge demand and they are looking for a much more diverse range of people,” he says.

“Tech has broadened considerably from the old stereotype of the spotty-faced nerd with thick glasses who didn’t talk to anybody. It has moved on to a much broader range of skills up to and including the arts as psychology, design and art are all brought into the domain of tech.”

A report published by Forfás and the expert group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) published in 2014 found that Ireland has the potential to become a leading country in Europe in data analytics services and create very highly skilled jobs for data analysts and data scientists proficient in areas such as mathematics, statistics and management science, combined with associated IT skills.

The report estimated that Ireland has the potential to create between 12,750 and 21,000 job vacancies by 2020, arising through expansion and replacement demand comprising 3,630 for deep analytical roles and 17,470 for big data roles in the tech sector.

Dooley says workers need to think outside the box and add a tech qualification to their skills portfolio in order to remain employable in a rapidly evolving workforce.

He cites the transition programme where people received free education conversion courses in IT which has led to his company expanding its talent pool from unlikely sources.

“We hired everyone from quantity surveyors, architects to gardeners, landscapers, carpenters, electricians – people who went and converted in six months and gave them further training. There is a greater benefit to educating people in workplaces than trying to get universities or colleges to change.

“Universities have the view that their job is to educate and it’s industry’s job to train. The void has not been crossed in the past 10 years,” he says.

Optimistic

For Paul Breslin, managing director, Europe, of Riot Games, the skills shortage in the tech industry has developed into a war for talent.

“It’s very hard to get good people in the tech sector – the tech sector is mobile, talent is mobile and there is great talent and opportunities all over the world, so sometimes you have to sell Dublin for them as a place to locate,’’ he says.

Breslin says while there is much talk of millennials and those who have graduated in the past few years being hard for companies to hold on to, he is optimistic that companies with the right culture will hang on to top talent.

“There’s more of an expectation among those starting out in their career that their workplace is an environment of trust, has an important feedback culture and plenty of scope for career development,”he says.

Breslin says the company invests a lot in recruitment to make sure candidates are the right fit and once they are there, a career development plan is put in place for each employee.

He says its workplace culture encourages them to take responsibility for their own career.

“To maximise talent we have a philosophy that states, no one cares more about your career than you do, you care more about your career than anyone else in the world and it’s up to you to manage your career,” he says.

“We’re here to help you and we do a lot of training but we say it’s up to you to walk through the door. The real key to maximising talent is for the individual to own their own career, development and that is key but we will support you in any way through learning and development.”

Breslin says the old adage “people leave managers not jobs” is one of the main reasons companies have difficulty retaining talent. “When people do leave organisations, it’s due to a lack of trust in the leadership or the organisation,” he says.

Willingness to upskill

For Dooley, addressing the skills shortage means being agile, nimble and having a willingness to upskill.

“Tech has broadened out considerably; people need to lose the stereotypical image of what tech is – technology is part of how we work now and in the future,” he says.

“Getting a tech qualification will be essential to how you work in the future. The day of an accountant coming out now and passing their exams is gone – they have to know systems and where they can get different information and collate it.

“I can’t think of a domain where tech won’t be required and we’re very near a point where a tech qualification for any job will be essential.

“In terms of employability, a tech [qualification] plus whatever domain you have studied is the way to guarantee your employability,” he adds.