The Problem with Filling Technology Jobs
Technology is advancing at such a rate that the education system has been unable to keep up with the constant changes that are happening in the technology industry. If you use your own memories and experiences of high school, you will begin to recognize the differences in technology, with changes you could never have imagined.
The government has recently made changes to the curriculum such as teaching coding skills, but with technological advances changing at a great speed, will those skills still be relevant in a decade’s time?
Changing Needs In Technology Jobs
In the current climate, there is a huge need for IT professionals to take up roles such as cyber security positions, analyst jobs and software development. These are all skills that not many people will have had the opportunity to train in because some of the specific responsibilities found in these roles simply didn’t exist 20 years ago.
However, this is opening a big gap in the market for the younger generation to fill as they have grown up surrounded by technology.
Each year, big companies are introducing new systems and enhanced system security. This means that they need more employees working in their IT department to take care of the various elements of system implementation. From testing to ongoing maintenance and security, there is a wide range of roles that are required and spaces needed to be filled.
The Effect of Automation
At the same time, many manual tasks are being automated, meaning that certain skills become obsolete. Therefore, there are lots of people now being made redundant, or who are unable to find jobs because they were educated a few years too early. However, the irony of the matter is, there is a huge lack in people being able to fill specialist IT roles, such as roles varying from qualified data recovery specialists who are responsible for sql database recovery, to project management.
Many companies are being forced to outsource some IT skills to countries like India, where workers have the opportunity to earn more money through taking on outsourced work.
Issues like this is obviously causing big problems for recruitment companies and in-house recruitment teams. Trying to find people with the relevant skills has become increasingly difficult, driving up the costs of trying to recruit. Therefore, more companies are spending more money on marketing the roles, providing lucrative financial packages and other benefits. This is all so they can tempt skilled workers from existing roles with the promise of a better work life.
Where’s The Money?
However, as one company starts increasing the salaries for specialist roles, their competition will gradually follow suit as they realize that the consequences of not having workers with these skills will end up costing them more than the salaries.
For people that do have these in-demand technology skills, they can find themselves enjoying the competitive recruitment market and become more selective regarding who they work for, and what package they sign up for. If you are student thinking about what area to study, make sure to research the market and find out what jobs are in demand.
