N Ireland IT boom in jeopardy

Northern Ireland needs 300 more IT experts a year

The number of IT and telecoms professionals employed in Northern Ireland (NI) over the next decade is forecast to grow at eight times the average rate of employment, but serious skills gaps, a failure to attract the right calibre of staff and a slump in the number of applicants to degree courses is threatening to undermine the industry’s potential.

An in-depth study of the IT and telecoms landscape in NI, published recently by UK IT skills body e-Skills UK, highlights numerous challenges that need to be addressed with some urgency if NI is to thrive in the global economy.

Although the e-Skills report forecasts an increase in employment across NI’s IT sector of 2.6 per cent per annum, growth will be primarily in higher-end roles, particularly IT management, strategy and planning and software professional jobs, while the number of entry-level IT jobs will continue to contract as increasing numbers are moved offshore.

The technology sector has long been a cornerstone of NI’s economy, producing an estimated gross value added (GVA) per head of £51,900, 50 per cent more than the average across the economy. Heavyweight IT employers including the New York Stock Exchange, Allstate and Fujitsu are among those to invest significant sums in NI. E-Skills estimates that the IT sector could generate an additional £0.8bn of GVA to the NI economy over the next five to seven years.

Ongoing success depends on skills investment
But there is a major caveat. Ongoing success is dependent on companies – particularly smaller ones – investing in the right skills to take the industry forward.

Mark Feeney, NI manager of e-Skills, said the IT industry had been earmarked as a priority sector by the NI government. “We have 15,600 IT professionals in NI and need 300 a year more. If we don’t have the right people joining, that business could go elsewhere.”

The message is by no means new: success in the digital economy will rely on a continuous influx of fresh talent, constant updating of technology skills and growing numbers of hybrid professionals who can bridge the gap between IT and the business.

The theory is sound, but finding individuals with the skills employers want is proving difficult. In fact, the e-Skills study shows that employers in NI looking to recruit IT staff have a tougher time finding suitable applicants than those in other parts of the UK.

Despite a 46 per cent reduction in demand for IT professionals as a result of the downturn, four out of five companies in NI report difficulties in attracting suitable IT applicants compared to 11 per cent across the UK as a whole.

Feeney blames this on negative stereotypes around a career in IT among 14-to-19 year olds.

“A career in IT is still seen as nerdy to young people, and we also have to do something about attracting more women – they represent only 17 per cent of IT and telecoms professionals in NI,” Feeney said.

It’s a sentiment echoed by George Maybury, senior business development manager at Parity, which is looking to recruit 90 IT professionals over the next three years. “It has to be about attracting people to a career in IT and we accept that we will have to invest in them.”

Another significant employer concern is that IT graduates simply don’t appear to make the grade in terms of meeting the increasingly stringent demands of employers. According to CBI statistics, 64 per cent of science, high technology and IT employers believe that the content of degrees is not relevant to their needs.

IT employers are tackling the problem
To their credit, IT employers in NI are tackling skills shortfalls head on. IT professionals are more likely to have been offered training than other workers. And it is paying off: at seven per cent, the incidence of firms reporting gaps in the skills of their IT and telecoms staff is lower than the UK average of 11 per cent.

Progress is being made but there is no silver bullet. An e-Skills employer board has been set up where senior representatives from firms including Dell, SAP and Northgate will rack their brains for solutions to NI’s skills issues.

But this is a long-term project. Feeney says he hopes to see the benefits of the organisation’s efforts in four years, but when economic recovery is at best fragile, brushing the IT skills issue under the carpet simply is not an option.