Skills gap expected to widen in 2024 – says CSO

Businesses face an IT talent shortage despite record low unemployment

Trade

Gillian Whelan, emagine

Irish businesses face a shortage of IT talent, fuelled by a low unemployment rate, as they vie to remain competitive and take advantage of new automation technologies.

In figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Ireland’s unemployment rate for December 2023 stands at 4.9% overall, and remains unchanged at just 3.5% for 25 to 74-year-olds. 

Surging demand for IT skills is not just an issue in Ireland. The global BFSI sector is facing a demand for IT talent as businesses become more aware of automation software and look to adopt RPA to improve their services and efficiency. According to Grand View Research, the corresponding demand for RPA consulting services is rising rapidly, as businesses bring in specialists to implement technological transformations. The research forecasts that this demand for RPA consulting services will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 41.9% between 2023 and 2030. 

Gillian Whelan, country manager, Emagine, said: “With the ongoing lowest unemployment rate there has ever been in Ireland, hiring and retaining talent will continue to be a significant challenge for Irish businesses in 2024, particularly where resources are needed for a fixed period of time on specific projects.   

Whelan highlighted the recruitment challenge this presents for Irish businesses in 2024, particularly for sought-after IT roles. 

“High demand for skilled IT professionals, coupled with a limited resource pool, means some companies are finding it hard to attract and retain talent with the right skillset at competitive rates. This makes it difficult for them to keep up with evolving technology, but keeping pace is essential.

Whelan explained that her clients increasingly need skilled professionals as they explore and adopt robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning technologies. 

“We have seen the adoption of automation technologies universally on the rise among our clients in Ireland, particularly in financial services but it is becoming the norm across many other industries… Investing in automation is an extremely attractive prospect for businesses. Using data in this way can enable improved decision-making, efficiency and productivity, as well as enhanced customer experience, greater employee satisfaction, and reduction of risk. But implementing and managing these technologies requires specialist skillsets.”  

TechCentral Reporters

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