Recruitment firm Hays is delighted to once again sponsor the IT Professional of the Year category at this year’s Belfast Telegraph’s IT Awards.
Technology experts remain greatly sought after, with skills shortages in niche markets continuing to rise.
According to data from Hays’ 2024 Salary & Recruiting Trends guide, almost three-quarters of employers (74%) are planning on recruiting staff, whilst 95% also experienced skills shortages.
Skills shortages are set to continue, especially in core, niche areas, such as cyber, data, cloud and AI.
As the research shows, salary increases have levelled across the board compared to last year’s sharp uplift, so employers will have to balance the expectations of their staff and prospective staff accordingly in order to attract and retain the top talent.
Hays
The research reveals that job security and flexibility remain two crucial factors for tech professionals seeking new opportunities today.
With this in mind, it’s even more important to provide organisations with quick access to talent, who will make a real difference.
Through our unrivalled ecosystem and home-grown talent community, our experts work closely with employers across Northern Ireland to provide them with the skills they need to grow.
Technology has been a key driver of workplace changes in recent times and, as a result, more and more jobs are being created that require digital skills — but the pipeline of talent to support this is nowhere near strong enough.
Juliann Deegan, business director at Hays, specialising in technology, said: “At all levels, the skills gap within technology is more acute than it’s ever been and is, if anything, spiking in areas such as cyber, data, cloud and DevOps as everyone from the big digital consultancies to the global tech firms and indigenous SMEs in Northern Ireland continue to expand.”
Many employers have recognised that, salary aside, they need a strong employee value proposition (EVP) to make their organisations attractive to candidates. Long-term success will require an industry-wide review of pathways to employment, training and development.
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There’s a huge opportunity to access individuals from untapped talent pools and those from non-traditional education backgrounds. With investment of time and re-training people with the necessary skills, they can help begin to fill the gaps in the labour market.
The upside is that employers are willing to recruit staff who might not tick all the boxes. Tech skills gaps are intensifying as we continue to see fewer young people engaging in tech careers each year. Upskilling, reskilling and training new talent is now critical to an organisation’s growth and should be central to any credible people strategy. Our own skills programmes support clients to build sustainable pipelines of permanent talent with exactly the skills they need to be successful.
Businesses will benefit from creating more diverse, equitable and inclusive workforces while supporting learning opportunities that will carve out career paths for future talent, ensuring a job in technology is accessible to everybody.
Roisin Byrne, senior business director at Hays, specialising in technology, said: “The Belfast Telegraph’s IT Awards are a fantastic opportunity to recognise the impressive talent that exists across the sector.
“We’re excited to support both organisations and professionals to continue to build a thriving tech scene across Belfast and more widely across Northern Ireland. Our role is to shape the tech-enabled world by closing the skills gaps and by supporting the evolution of new roles through our deep-rooted expertise and approach to innovation so that we can create a better future for the world of work.”
To enter the IT Awards, visit www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ITawards/enter