22 August 2000

STUDY SHOWS PROGRESS IN MEETING ICT/SOFTWARE SKILLS NEEDS

There is little likelihood of Northern Ireland suffering a severe shortage of IT qualified workers in the next few years, a report published today by the Northern Ireland Skills Task Force reveals.

The Report "A Study of the Northern Ireland Labour Market for IT Skills", was completed by the Priority Skills Unit at the Northern Ireland Economic Research Centre (NIERC). It indicates that significant progress has been made in balancing the skills supply and demand of the local Software Industry at entry level.

It adds that while there is a continuing difficulty in finding all of the experienced people required for the industry, if higher and further education enrolments continue to grow Northern Ireland should be well placed to take growth opportunities in the Sector.

Presenting the report to Dr Sean Farren, the Minister for Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment, Chairman of the Skills Task Force, Bill McGinnis OBE, said: "In the context of a rapidly expanding IT sector we need to ensure that the supply of IT skills within the Northern Ireland workforce is sufficient to meet the current and future needs of employers.

"This report raises a number of important issues and provides the sort of high quality information needed to enable the providers of education and training for the IT sector to plan more effectively."

Mr McGinnis explained that the study also assessed the projected balance between demand and supply for new IT qualified workers over the next five years up to 2005. A range of scenarios were examined, each with different assumptions about the growth in employment and the output of educational institutions.

He added: "The report finds that there is little likelihood of Northern Ireland suffering a severe shortage of IT qualified workers in the next few years. Indeed, if higher and further education enrolments continue to grow as they have over recent years, there may well be a surplus, a factor likely to make Northern Ireland a very attractive option for inward investment firms."

Welcoming the report, Dr Farren said: "This study is a very important piece of work, which helps us to understand the dynamics of the industry and to measure our progress in meeting the demands created by the very significant growth in this sector.

"However, despite progress being made we still face a challenge of creating the labour supply conditions which will enable us to take full advantage of the global opportunities in the wider software industry. We recognise that there are current shortages of experienced staff, particularly for more senior positions. This is inevitable given the very rapid growth in this sector internationally and is a problem experienced to an even greater extent in other regions.

"The Higher and Further Education institutions continue to play a role as do our graduate conversion courses. This report paints a reasonably positive picture but we cannot be complacent and I have set my sights on ensuring that the education and training sectors reflect the changing needs of the economy."

The report was commissioned by the Northern Ireland Skills Task Force as part of its research programme examining future skill needs in priority skills areas.

Copies of the report "An Analysis of Demand and Supply conditions in the Northern Ireland IT Labour Market" are available from Research & Evaluation Branch, Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment, tel: 028 9025 7626.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The Report is divided into two sections:

Section 1 - Employment Practices, Perceptions and IT Skills Shortages: The Case of Northern Ireland.

Section 2 - An Analysis of Demand and Supply Conditions in the Northern Ireland IT Labour Market.

Copies of the Executive Summaries for both sections and/or further details are available from Simon Burrowes on 028 90 257831 or 07799 711524.