Ireland’s IT skills shortage cost €981,439 to the average Irish enterprise over the past year. This is according to a survey which was commissioned by Expleo and carried out by TechPro in July and August 2019 among 143 senior IT professionals and decision-makers in Irish-based businesses, which were typically larger enterprises.
According to the survey, more than three-quarters (76%) of Irish enterprises are losing money as a result of an IT skills gap in their organisation.
Expleo’s research also shows that businesses are experiencing stunted growth. Forty one percent of enterprises are not scaling at their desired pace as a result of IT skills shortages, while 13% say it has halted revenue growth.
As for the security of their enterprise, one-quarter of IT decision-makers said that their business is at greater risk from cybersecurity threats and 18% are finding it difficult to meet their regulatory requirements due to a lack of in-house tech skills.
Almost half (47%) of those surveyed said lack of IT talent on innovation is hampering their company’s digital transformation, while one-third said it has slowed down their speed to market for innovative new products.
To address the skills shortages, Expleo’s research found that medium to large-sized businesses are taking multi-faceted approaches. More than half (52%) are outsourcing some of their IT work, while 22% of those surveyed outsource IT functions completely.
When it comes to recruiting, nearly two-in-five Irish enterprises (39%) hire contractors on a project-by-project basis, while 30% seek candidates from outside Ireland. One-in-five (20%) of IT decision-makers are recruiting more graduates, while 19% are increasing their spend on IT training.
Commenting on the research, Managing Director Ireland at Expleo, Phil Codd said, "It’s evident from our findings that skills shortages negatively affect every function of an organisation – from halting revenue growth to putting the company’s cybersecurity, and therefore customer data, at risk. Most worryingly, a significant majority of large enterprises are losing a lot of money in Ireland and this isn’t sustainable. Addressing the skills shortage needs to be front and centre for businesses and government."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
