Skills: the size of the gap

While there is an ICT skills gap in the current workforce, the future could be getting brighter for the industry.

Around 25,000 people in Northern Ireland work in the IT and telecoms sectors but some businesses are still having problems finding staff with the specific ICT skills they need.

According to Technology Counts IT and Telecoms Insights 2010, the number of people in Northern Ireland employed in IT professional occupations has increased by 8 per cent since 2001. Some 23 per cent of people working in the industry are now employed as ICT managers or IT strategy and planning professionals, with a further 37 per cent being employed as software professionals.

The report found that the economic downturn has brought with it a significant fall in demand for IT and telecoms professionals in Northern Ireland, with the number of positions falling by 46 per cent between 2008 and 2009 to approximately 160 vacancies during the second quarter of the year.

However, the Northern Ireland ICT Snapshot, which was carried out in January, showed that some companies are still recruiting. But with the ever-changing nature of IT, one in four companies said they anticipate difficulties in recruiting ICT employees. The main stated reasons for this were a lack of skills and relevant experience in applicants.

Companies with hard-to-fill vacancies said they had problems finding applicants with two to five years’ experience for technical and software roles, to 10 or more years for senior management. Leadership skills shortages also posed a problem for employers, with several businesses having problems finding suitable employees.

Twenty-seven per cent of ICT companies with vacancies said recruitment difficulties were having “a major effect on the operation of their business”.

The Technology Counts report suggests that there is a significant gender divide within the IT industry. In 2009, only 17 per cent of IT and telecoms professionals in the province were female. However, female proportions in IT-related courses taught at GCSE and A-level have been improving over time.

Despite a considerable skills gap in the current workforce, the report says the future of the sector could be changing for the better. Acceptances onto mathematical and computer sciences courses have grown by 13 per cent in the last two years.

Over the last year in the UK, the number of students taking ICT and computing A-levels has declined by 4 per cent. In contrast, the uptake in the subjects has grown by 8 per cent over the same period in Northern Ireland. Similarly, whilst the number of students taking IT-related GCSEs across the UK has declined by

44 per cent since 2005, numbers in Northern Ireland have grown by a third.

More people in Northern Ireland are also gaining ICT skills through the Department for Employment and Learning’s Essential Skills programme. During August 2010, 472 learners gained ICT qualifications.

Speaking about ICT skills in the province, Reg Empey has said: “Interaction with computers and technology play an increasingly significant role in all our lives, whether professionally or socially. In today’s employment market, very few jobs remain untouched by technology.”