Thinking of making IT your career?

Pro

1 April 2005

If you’ve been following the recent media coverage concerning the fall off in applications for IT related third level courses, you’d be forgiven for wondering whether the end of the world is nigh for the local technology sector.

Coupled with daily reports of company closures and redundancies, the news that fewer students are enrolling for science and computer courses has been picked up by the mainstream media as evidence that a crisis is looming in the local IT sector.

Given that the country’s transformation over the past decade has largely been built on the backbone of the IT industry, it’s not surprising that there’s been a high level of concern regarding student’s lack of interest in technical courses. But just how worried should we be about the drop off in applications? Will it really have serious repercussions for the sector going forward, or are the possible consequences being exaggerated?

First the figures: Almost 100,000 people are currently employed in the IT sector in Ireland, according to ICT Ireland. However, according to the third Expert Group on Future Skills Needs report, which was issued before the drop off in college applications were announced; there will be an annual shortfall of over 3,000 ICT professionals each year for the next five years.

A more recent study commissioned by the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS), of which the Irish Computer Society is a member; also predicted a possible skills shortage in the IT sector in the coming years. According to their forecast, Ireland could face an unsatisfied demand for up to 14,000 new professional jobs in the Irish marketplace in 2005.

With such a skills shortage beckoning you’d imagine that students would be queuing up to enrol on IT related courses. But according to the latest College of Applications Office (CAO) figures, the number of students applying for technology courses in third level colleges has declined 25 percent this year compared to 2001. Furthermore, there’s also an ongoing decline in the number of students at primary and secondary levels pursuing science related subjects.

The consequences

Paul O’Dea, chairperson of the Irish Software Association is one of those who are concerned about the recent drop off in applications and its possible consequences for the local sector. He says, ‘historically, there have been two key competitive advantages that Ireland has had over other countries. One, undoubtedly from a multinational perspective is taxation, the other has been the indigenous skills pool. If our skills pool deteriorates as seems likely given the recent figures coming out, then this represents a very serious issue for the IT industry’. 

But what kind of consequences is a skills shortage likely to have on the local sector? After all, Ireland isn’t alone in facing such problems with its skills base. The European Commission recently reported that there will be a shortfall of 1.7 million IT vacancies across the EU by 2003, and such shortages are also becoming evident in the US.

The upshot though is that Ireland has traditionally sold itself on the strength of its workforce and without a large number of skilled ICT professionals and technicians, we run the risk of losing out to other countries who will still have an adequate labour supply.

As Tim McCarthy, chairman of ICT Ireland’s Education Working Group and general manager of sales at Dell Ireland recently noted, ‘Ireland’s reputation in having a young well educated work force with high IT skills has been one of the major reasons for foreign-based companies to choose Ireland as a base. This competitive advantage is now in danger of being eroded and the decline must be redressed if we are to retain our attractiveness as a location of choice for foreign-based companies’.

McCarthy is not alone in sharing this view. Frank Cronin, CEO of the Irish Computer Society also believes that a drop in the number of skilled IT staff will have a devastating effect on the country going forward.

‘A reduction in enrolments may reduce the attractiveness of Ireland as a location for new investment in the IT area,’ says Cronin, ‘but it also has wider implications for all industry, as no modern business can operate without ICT. Furthermore, the future of key resources will restrict the development of the Irish IT industry, will mean more outsourcing from Ireland to Asian and Eastern European countries; and will lead to increased salaries and costs for companies, thereby reducing their profitability and ability to compete internationally’.

Selling IT as a Career

Recent media coverage has tended to focus on the fallout from the IT industry, and has no doubt had an influence on student’s career choices. But, if we are facing a potential skills crisis, then it’s obvious that the IT sector has a role to play in convincing students that a career in IT is still a valid proposition.

Traditionally, selling IT has been something that’s been left to government and professional bodies. Some larger multinational firms have attempted to promote the sector to students and a few even offer programmes that allow graduates to come and work in-house on projects in order to further their experience. But as Frank Cronin makes clear, a large number of local IT companies either don’t have the resources or the will to spend their time selling the benefits of a career in IT.

Cronin says, ‘Capital is spent where the resources are available to produce goods and services at a profit and when push comes to shove, industry will go where the skilled workforce is available rather than try to make a go of it where there is a shortage. Do not expect any but the largest employers to invest in promoting careers in the IT/tech sector because only the largest IT companies would have an interest in promoting careers and this is probably more a role for government and professional bodies’.

However, if we are to consider the possible costs involved in not promoting the industry to youngsters, then while it is necessary to have government involvement, the sector does have to get out there and sell itself. ‘The local sector has certainly made efforts to promote the benefits of a career in IT, but it has to redouble its efforts to get across its message,’ says Paul O’Dea. ‘For school-leaving students, the lack of an IT education for their future career is a huge impediment and its necessary for the industry to continue its dialogue with the Department of Education and Science in order to alert students to this fact. The sector also has to be better at communicating its message on the ground.’

While the idea of promoting IT to students may not seem as though it would have any immediate benefit, a recent campaign by two professional bodies has already paid off dividends. Following the announcement of a drop in the number of college applications for IT related courses, ICT Ireland and The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, co-sponsored an intensive PR ‘Change of Mind’ awareness campaign aimed at persuading leaving certificate students to avail of their CAO ‘Change of Mind’ form and apply for one of the courses which provide a route to the ICT sector.

ICT Ireland’s director, Brendan Butler, says that the PR campaign worked extraordinarily well. ‘The twin objectives of the campaign was to promote the excellent career prospects which exist in Ireland’s ICT sector and ensuring that the country has a highly skilled workforce, says Butler. ‘As a result of the PR campaign, there was an eight percent increase in the number of students who opted for IT courses.’

Obviously, the IT sector shouldn’t be a lone voice in promoting the benefits of a technical career to school-leaving students. The government and the education sector also have important roles to play in encouraging youngsters to opt for a job in this area. But, as Tom Brazil, Head of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering Department at UCD makes clear, those working in ICT need to counteract the current negative media coverage by reassuring students that they have a prosperous future ahead of them if they opt for an IT-related course.

Brazil says, ‘there may be a perception among students that with all these closures being announced that the industry is now over. Therefore we need to explain that the nature of the business is that it has periods of dramatic growth and then periods of fairly severe contractions, but that taken as an average over a long period of time, the industry is growing, and will continue to grow.

Getting out there and promoting the benefits of a career in IT is something that the sector has to consider seriously if it is to avert a possible skills shortage. But the industry also need to invest more in the education sector so that safeguards are provided for those that do opt for technical careers. Tom Brazil argues that better support for postgraduates is also needed, especially now that the labour market has weakened. 

‘The higher education sector needs to be able to absorb postgraduates at times like these, when things are bad, so that even if the industry is facing a down period, those who have undertaken an IT-related course still have options open to them’ he says.

Read More:


Back to Top ↑

TechCentral.ie