the Labour Market Survey Report - Council of European ...

4.4 IT Practitioners in Ireland
The Irish economy saw remarkable growth over the late 1990s, and part of this undoubtedly arose from
the notable success of high-tech industries. This emerged in part from the establishment in Ireland of
European bases of a number of growing IT companies from North America (in particular the United
States). This was quickly augmented by the flowering of an “indigenous” industry within the new
Technologies, including what is viewed as the e-Business (“Born-on-the-web” e-commerce- and Internet
Data Centre- enterprises) and Digital Media (incorporating Commercial/ Corporate Digital Media-,
Education and Training media- and Entertainment Digital media- companies) sectors.
The very strong growth in demand for IT (and other) skills arising from this economic growth caused
the Irish government to set up in 1998 an “Expert Group on Future Skills Needs”, which presented three
reports, the third of which, in 2001, drawing on the earlier primary research, and on expert opinion
elicited through a series of workshops, included a significant review of the position and set of policy
recommendations, based in particular on the findings of three commissioned reports (“Third Report of
Expert Group..”, March 2001), that focused on:
a) the skill needs of the Software Industry, demand for software skills across the economy and the
emerging areas of e-Business, digital media and multi-media (from McIver Consulting)
b) the changing skills requirements and overall demand for skills in the hardware sector (from
Eirlink), and
c) labour market projections and forecasts for the supply of “third-level” graduates in IT (from
ESRI)
The main policy response focused on estimating the likely number of “third-level” skills provision up
to the year 2005. The forecasts were driven by assumptions about the growth in total employment for
the industry sectors involved – with each (supply) sub-sector considered in some detail as well as the
expected demand within user industry (“wider economy”) sectors. The initial estimates produced for the
First Report led in 1999 to additional public investment in a) 5,400 IT-related third level places, b) 1,100
IT places on the “Accelerated Technician” programme, and 1,500 places on post-graduate IT-conversion
courses.
The Expert Group continued to monitor the situation, and on the basis of a deeper analysis and in the light
of developments, the Third Report proposed an adjustment in the provision as between IT Professionals
and Technicians, with a small shift of funding resource from technicians to those with degrees.
The analysis on which the forecasts were prepared was based on secondary research, looking in
particular employment trends in Ireland and other countries, and on a new survey of employment within
web development companies. Early estimates were reviewed in workshops with the relevant industry
bodies and agencies. The forecasts themselves assumed annual growth in the indigenous software
industry of 25% between 2001 and 2005, and took a figure of an annual increase of employment in
“overseas owned” software companies of 2,300 over the same period. Increases assumed for the other
sectors considered (Digital Media and e-Business) were also relatively high, although from a significantly
smaller base, and it was assumed that employment (in IT departments of) User Organisations (the “wider
economy”) would grow at some 1,600 per annum. It was felt that significant growth in this employment
would occur “even in the event of a severe slowdown”.
C E P I S I.T. PRACTITIONER SKILLS IN EUROPE | Section 4 | 45