Interview: Firms face scramble for skills

IT Week: IT recruitment fell during the recent economic slowdown. As chief executive of Spring Technology Staffing Services, do you see a turnaround coming?

William Grubbs: We are seeing a rise in contractors and permanent staff, and pay rates are increasing. In the contract world, the trend is for workers to slow down and not jump at the first job opportunity. Instead, they're taking in factors such as location.

Could this upturn make it even more difficult for firms to recruit the right IT staff?

Firms are going to have to change how they recruit as there will be a mini-shortage of candidates in 2004 and beyond. People make the mistake of thinking it is only a shortage when it is across all of IT. But certain skills are in shortage now, such as ERP [enterprise resource planning], CRM [customer relationship management] and internet skills.

ERP and CRM have been areas that firms shied away from during the economic slowdown as too costly or complex...

They are very big projects, not just six-week one-offs. They are long-term, strategic projects, and the fact that these skills are in demand is a very good sign for the industry. There is also a shift in the type of workers being hired. In the late 1990s, it was project managers that were in demand. Then during the downturn it was systems administrators and maintenance staff. But we are seeing a trend today for more project managers and business systems analysts again, which indicates an upturn.

Are there types of expertise that could be in short supply in the longer term?

In the medium to long term, it will be open source technology skills. If Microsoft were to open up its source code that would open up the way for a glut of new development. The acceptance of Linux by firms such as Oracle and HP is driving development and generating lots of consultancy and hiring.

What other developments are creating shortages of skilled workers?

The industry is playing catch-up as it has been stagnant for so long. Drivers are delayed projects being revisited; and software systems and technology getting old. The internet will drive the long-term recruitment trends. Business to consumer [systems are] fairly commonplace today. But business-to-business [B2B] is minimal and there is a huge gap to be filled.

So B2B will drive IT spending...

People keep talking about there being nothing new on the horizon or nothing driving the industry. But the fact is there is lots that has not been done yet. I do not think the internet is being used to one hundredth of how it should be, particularly on the B2B level.

What are the long-term trends for the type of people working in IT?

The number of workers aged between 25 and 44 will have reduced by 1.3 million by 2011. And 80 percent of new-entry workers will be women.

So what can firms do to ensure access to skilled IT workers in the future?

Taking into account the above figures, we can assume there will be less male IT workers, so getting girls into IT training programmes is important. Businesses should be participating in these programmes, to make sure there are enough skilled technology workers in the future.

ABOUT WILLIAN GRUBBS

William Grubbs was appointed chief operating officer of recruitment specialist Spring Group in 2002 and chief executive of Spring Technology Staffing Services, a division of Spring Group, in 2003.

Grubbs has been in the professional services industry for over 20 years.

He has a computer degree from the University of New Hampshire.

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!