While the chances of employment in the IT sector in SA is arguably better than in the US, local companies are cutting their technology spend and becoming more demanding when it comes to hiring employees, placing pressure on mobility within the industry, as well as making it more difficult for the unemployed to find work.
So said Org Geldenhuys, a director of Pretoria-based IT recruiting firm, Abacus Recruitment. Geldenhuys did say, however, that it is not "all gloom and doom".
"If we compare SA to the US, in 2000 there were 2 million IT workers looking for work - and there were only 493 000 work opportunities. In sheer numbers -and in percentages - this scenario is worse than we are experiencing in SA.
Although we at Abacus find that about 30% of our candidates are unemployed when seeking employment, the latest research conducted by ITWeb in its IT Salary Survey suggests that as many as 55% of candidates looking for work may be out of a job."
Commenting further, Geldenhuys said that one of the biggest problems with local IT workers is that they are not upgrading their IT skills.
"The IT industry is a fast-track, fast-changing industry and skills requirements change ever few years - and sometimes even faster. Too many IT workers have unpopular or outdated skills. Other obvious problems include the fact that some are deemed too old and a growing percentage - especially white males over 40 - do not fit the into affirmative action requirements, which are now a big part of employment potential in this country.
"In an ever-changing work landscape IT workers should also try and round off their skills. Having a popular IT skill is great, but it is even a bigger bonus if a candidate has additional business skills, or acumen. Someone who is technical and can also lead a team - or a division - from a business perspective is in high demand these days."
Retrenchment remains a sombre spectre and, as the IT industry continues to limp along - and with once high-fliers such as AST and MGX reporting really dismal results - there is an alarming trend for companies to cut back on headcounts, or at least freeze the hiring of new blood."
But Geldenhuys said truly skilled workers will always be in demand. "If you are simply average right now, your chances of being employed are not all that rosy. There is a lot of competition and a lot of companies are freezing their IT budgets, or are cutting back. The trick - and it sounds simpler than it really is - is to ensure that you have the right skills set. You need to know what is in demand."
According ITWeb`s recent survey, some of the skills in demand include C++ developers, database specialists, Java integration architects, JD Edwards, SAP Business Warehouse specialists, SAP professionals, skilled affirmative action candidates, skilled business unit managers and non-mainstream technologies, eg Clarion and Progress, and Microsoft .Net skills.
Those skills deemed to be out of favour include "legacy" skills (mainframe programmers), Cobol programmers, Linux skills, junior programmers with less than two years` experience, MCSEs, PC technicians, senior IT managers, basic networking skills (N +), and developers without a degree.
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