Let’s face it, 2002 is likely to go down as one of those years that people are just glad to see the back off. Its was a tough and dreary time for most of us and there’s little more pleasure than to be able to say good riddance to it.
The year was particularly brutal for those working in the IT industry with a number of redundancies and company closures. In fact, according to a recent report from IDC Research, 2002 was the worse year in the history of the IT industry.
Perhaps not surprising then, few, if any companies in the local sector were actively recruiting during 2002. Still, when one considers how gloomy things were looking at the same time in 2001, it seems fair to say that 2002 wasn’t nearly as bad as we all imagined it would be.
As 2001 drew to a close things were looking particularly grim and there was a real sense of anxiety in the air. As if the economic slowdown wasn’t enough to contend with, we were still getting over the shock of the terrorist attacks and the surprise of seeing Irish companies issuing redundancies.
Talking with recruiters and trainers back then wasn’t pleasant because most seemed to believe that if things were bad at the tail-end of 2001, they were only going to get worse in 2002. However, as Emmett Hedigan, managing director of Unlimited Training sees it, things were difficult but they could have been a whole lot worse. ‘Looking back, things haven’t been as bad this year as was originally predicted, but that doesn’t mean things have been particularly easy though either,’ said Hedigan in late 2002. ‘Companies have been squeezed every which way and therefore everyone has felt the pinch.’
For many organisations, 2002 was more about surviving than expanding and as a consequence of this the sector has been pretty static. Little recruiting or training activity could be seen because most IT organisations were wary of spending their budgets until the last moment. Nonetheless what this means is that 2002 ended on something of a high with a number of companies now rushing out to spend their funds before the year ended. ‘Many organisations adopted a “wait and see” policy because of the downturn,’ says Lorraine Kelly, principal IT consultant with Sigma Recruitment. There was a serge in demand for personnel from October onwards, states Kelly, which she qualified by adding that organisations would ‘lose their budgets if they were not spent during the year’.
What’s hot?
Two years ago, you couldn’t find software developers for love or money and pretty much anyone with a basic knowledge of Java or C++ could walk into a job very easily. But software development has been one of the hardest hit areas in the IT sector during the downturn, according to Gerry Nolan, managing director of recruitment specialists, Net Nation. Nolan says, ‘things were pretty quiet as a whole during 2002 on the recruitment side, and those companies that were hiring tended to only be bringing in sales people. Nonetheless, there’s still a healthy demand for people with niche skills and over the last few weeks firms have begun inquiring about hiring software developers again’.
Lorraine Kelly agrees that there is likely to be renewed demand for programmers in 2003. She says, ‘the demand for systems administrators and testers is gone at present, however, there’s certainly a growing interest in recruiting programmers and people with localisation skills. This is due in part to the fact that companies were afraid to start new projects during 2002 because of all the uncertainty. Now though, they’re planning on being a bit more daring in 2003 and many are starting to develop new projects’.
In support of this outlook, Kelly points out that in a recent Sigma study, 46.3 percent of the agency’s clients projected that their headcount will increase in 2003, while none of the respondents foresaw a decrease.
On the up
Many of those working in the IT industry believe that 2003 is going to be considerably easier than last year. However, most feel that we’re unlikely to see a return to the level of activity we had during the boom times. Pat Casey, Dell Ireland’s vice president of human resources, says, ‘looking forward, there’s definitely a sense of optimism in the market. But the sector has fundamentally changed as a result of the downturn and the companies that are still in business are much more cost sensitive than before. We’re unlikely to see anything like the boom years occurring again in Ireland.’
Gerry Nolan meanwhile, believes that despite a cautious start in 2003, we may see a return to some kind of normal service. However, he’s quick to point out that while things have been quiet in the IT sector, other industries were already calling out for IT personnel in 2002. Nolan says, ‘Decision makers seem to be a lot more upbeat about 2003 and we’re likely to see things pick up considerably as the year progresses. Moreover, although the IT industry was pretty static during 2002, there was considerable demand for IT personnel in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors. There’s a common perception that the IT sector is now dead, but if anything, technology is now expanding into other industries creating a demand for skilled IT personnel there.’
Sweating those assets
If the recruitment sector has been quiet, then spare a thought for those working in the training market. It may be hard to justify the need to take on new employees in the middle of a downturn, but it’s that much harder convincing decision makers that training is still something that companies should pay out for.
According to Stephen Ennis, professional services manager with Horizon Open Systems, there is still a demand for training in the IT sector, however, the focus has changed of late. He says, ‘there’s much greater justification required in regard to what type of training is allowed and more of an emphasis on getting the most of what a company already has. Most companies are currently focusing on sweating their assets — building on what they’ve got, rather than investing in new training’. He adds that there has been more demand for blended learning during 2002 and expects this to continue this year.
Dell Ireland has been one of those companies who have been actively ‘sweating their assets’ during 2002. Pat Casey says that given the circumstances, the company had a good year and has continued to actively recruit personnel for its operations. According to Casey, Dell continued to recruit despite the downturn and, depending on its productivity goals, it will continue to do so this year. ‘With regards to training, most of our programs have continued to operate as normal, however there has been a slight change in focus and we’ve made more of an effort to embrace BPI (Business Process Improvement) in order to make sure that we get the best out of the resources we currently have.’
Meanwhile, over at SAP Ireland, Aisling Kelly, the company’s human resources manager, says that both recruiting and training are still very much on the agenda. Kelly says, ‘Our support service centre at City West, Dublin, has plans to hire in 2003 and targets are currently being set. With regard to training, SAP has and continues to place a lot of importance on training, because we feel it is the lifeblood of our success and future.’
Alive and Kicking
The global IT industry may have taken a hell of a beating during 2002 but there are signs that things are getting back on track again. As Gerry Nolan says, ‘the important thing to note is that while there’s a common perception that the IT industry is now dead, the opposite is true’. During 2003, we anticipate seeing new innovations and ‘they’ll help to kickstart the sector again’.
17/02/2003
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