Ireland could face huge IT shortage, says survey
Ireland could face an unsatisfied demand for the estimated 14,000 new IT professional jobs that are forecast in the Irish marketplace in 2005, according to an Irish Computer Society (ICS) backed European survey.
The report, commissioned by the Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS), of which the ICS is a leading member, also compares and contrast the structure and composition of the IT professional in Ireland with other leading European countries.
The research report, IT Practitioner Skills in Europe, makes use for the first time of comparable national statistics relating to employment in IT and IT-related occupations in European Union countries, and shows some significant national variations.
In particular, of the countries surveyed (Ireland, Germany, Sweden and UK):
* Ireland has the highest representation of female Computing Professionals, with Ireland found to have nearly twice the proportion as that found in the UK and Germany.
* Ireland also has the youngest profile of IT Professionals of the four represented countries.
* In terms of self-employment of IT Professionals, Ireland scores lower than the UK and Sweden.
* Ireland also topped the table with the highest percentage of computer professionals within the supply sector versus user sector, reflecting the high export profile of the IT industry in Ireland.
The report uses a new approach to forecasting: it illustrates the development of demand for more IT practitioners arising from growth of the workforce over the coming years at four different growth rates (2%, 5%, 10% and 15% a year).
Using the 10% growth rate figure (most recent annual growth rate is 11.3% increase) Ireland could expect to see an annual average demand of 2,790 in 2002-2003, 6,382 in 2003-2004 and 4,342 in 2004-2005.
According to the report significant growth in employment could be expected 'even in the event of a severe slowdown'. However the report also points out that forecast estimates from the education sector were significantly below this.
Commenting in the report Frank Cronin, CEO, Irish Computer Society said "This report helps to put a realistic perspective on IT skills demand in the context of the current slowdown. The forecasts it gives about the future of the IT professional in Ireland are positive.
"Students who enter third level colleges this year will find over one and a half times more IT Professional jobs are available when they graduate, than are available today. The results raise some concern, in that even at the current levels of supply of students, we may not be able to meet the likely demand.
"The drop in student numbers applying for IT courses through the CAO is extremely disappointing
and will put further strain on Irelands future competitiveness and ability to attract high calibre IT investment."
Mr Cronin also added "This report also points to a positive equality in opportunity for IT professionals in Ireland but this is also worrying in the context that combined with an overall drop in IT student figures, the decrease in female IT student is even greater."
The Irish Computer Society was founded in 1967 as the national body for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professionals in Ireland.
