Looming IT talent shortage

Well the article is based on stuff from Gartner, so it's a global thing. So BEE/AA is not really a factor globally.

However other than BEE/AA and minimum pay on junior/mid level, i also noticed that companies are viewing IT as a "necessary evil" . Basically they don't really want to do it, but they have to. Result is, they get people for cheap as possible and do not TAKE CARE of them. There's no long-term plans in action on how they are going to grow and expand these people, yet they have plans for junior shop floor workers to go all the way up to "purchase manager" etc. In IT, you only seem to go "up" because someone left and/or they can't find someone else fast enough.

Heck i even caught my boss saying "we need business analysts for the long haul to grow into the business , IT/programmers are only around for 2 years and then they start to get the itch to leave, so we'll just grab them as we need them for cheap " . .....and we're a software company......

For me it just feels like companies does not give a damn, eventually those juniors who became seniors end up doing their own thing or doing something totally different [i.e. doing client management vs. designing/analysing systems] because it got a better pay and/or career path.


Globally i think they're treating a highly specialized and skilled job as a "blue collar" job.

Companies are going to need people who offer much more than technical certification or specific skills. They will need people with experience in roles such as project management and business process analysis, preferably with professional expertise in such disciplines as architectures, process modelling and portfolio management. Finally, they will need people with drive, initiative and leadership skills."
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So in IT they want

someone with "management","technical" ,"can run my own business" AND "run any project" skills getting R15k a month

versus

someone with one very specific financial skill [i.e Auditing/Accounting] getting R40k a month ......
 
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The problem I am finding is that IT really isn't what I thought it would be.

While I was at varsity doing my BSc, I used to work with all sorts of challenging and exciting technologies. I love learning and creating.

Now, in the real world, it's all about keeping systems up and thinking of business needs. It's not fun anymore.

Another reason why IT is such an unattractive career is, as mentioned earlier, because people aren't getting paid enough. We are on call 24 hours a day, like doctors, but we don't get paid like doctors.

Companies think they own us.
 
EtienneK said:
The problem I am finding is that IT really isn't what I thought it would be.

While I was at varsity doing my BSc, I used to work with all sorts of challenging and exciting technologies. I love learning and creating.

Now, in the real world, it's all about keeping systems up and thinking of business needs. It's not fun anymore.

Another reason why IT is such an unattractive career is, as mentioned earlier, because people aren't getting paid enough. We are on call 24 hours a day, like doctors, but we don't get paid like doctors.

Companies think they own us.
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I was in similar position as you, when I was at varsity, I had an opportunity to be creative and play around with whatever. wen u get out of varsity you get mostly support roles.
When they tried doing that to me I told my boss to PISS OFF and I resigned after 2 months in the job. Now in a better position where they recognize my talents and working with all sorts of challenging and exiting technologies.
 
This sounds like a global problem, so how are South Africa's policies to blame?

I believed that normal market pressures will highlight the brokenness of unfettered AA
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The only real problem with the implementation is the use of inflexible quotas.
 
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Great... I might be looking for a job soon... had it with the current company. Maybe its time to immigrate.
 
Pay us what were worth. If it wasn't for IT most businesses would fall over.

And get rid of this BEE cr@p. Give the job to whoever has the skills no matter what the color.
 
ToxicBunny said:
I have come across many techies that have absolutely NO business sense whatsoever, and no idea of what impact their actions can have on business.
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Equally it could be said that many business people have no technology sense. Failing to listen to their technology people is one thing that leads to limited or poor implementations.

How much effort do businesses make to spread knowledge?
 
Until most IT work isn't considered part of maintenance by management it wont be an attractive job so it wont attract or keep the talented employees.
 
A Lament

While the report by Gartner might certainly be true in many parts of the world, I wonder about its applicability here in the RSA. Several posters have pointed out a variety of reasons and I want to add another: age aversion. I certainly fall into the category of people the report see as being needed. I have almost 40 years IT and business experience in positions from programmer, analyst, IT manager, project manager, MD and director of several companies, I've run my own companies and have recently updated my technical skills. In short, I have extensive business, IT and practical experience. I also have a BCom and am halfway through an MPhil in information and knowledge management.

Nevertheless, after the company I was with closed down three years ago, I have applied for more than 200 positions, from the lowliest to reasonably senior. I received less than 20 acknowlegements and was interviewed only once.

I am in the fortunate position that I do not need an income, but I do want to work and will accept a modest salary for contributing probably more than its value.

So, what is wrong with this picture?
 
1) Revise the IT subjects at school. Pascal is dead, who of you do program with it at work? Why not Java or C#? Something they can grow at, don’t just teach them concepts!
2) Start inspiring kids to start playing more on PCs. Most parents see PC games as a waste of time. It’s because of PC games I got into programming, coz I wanted to write my own games. (Yea, dad Games did get me a job and its a good one as well!!)
3) Government should start to buy into the $100 laptop scheme.
4) Make being a Geek cool (Will never happen) but inspiration can change a nation! Korea has IT completions and IT related stuff on TV! IT is like a sport there! (Korea = Samsung, Hyundai…)
5) DON’T standardize IT salaries. The 4 major banks, and the 4 Cell companies are in the process of standardizing IT salaries, you will get rated and you will get paid the same no mater where you go. This is going to make a crap load of people leave the country.

IT is not always about what you know, but more in how you use it. Any fool can learn a programming language in couple of days, but to use it efficiently takes time and vision! And great vision is what most IT people lack! I see it everyday in the university grads.
 
BBotha said:
1) Revise the IT subjects at school. Pascal is dead, who of you do program with it at work? Why not Java or C#? Something they can grow at, don’t just teach them concepts!
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That is horrible advice!

Pascal is such a beautiful beginners language. It does teach concepts, yes, but that's a good thing! If you know one programming language, learning another is trivial.

What you advise (not teaching concepts) is one of my biggest pet peeves in our education system. Schools and universities should teach concepts and not just single applications and programming languages.

Don't teach kids MS Word. Teach them to use a word processor. Don't teach kids MS Excel. Teach them to use a spreadsheet.

Pascal is just the start. It opens doors to so many other wonderful programming languages.

I did Pascal for 3 years in school. In my 1st year of varsity, I did C++ for Comp Sci and VB.NET for Informatics. The switch was so easy. Why? Because Pascal taught me the fundamentals of programming. In my 2nd year of varsity, we did Java. In my 3rd we did Assembly. During my holidays, I did some part time work using PHP. I taught myself to be profecient in PHP and SQL in 1 week. Lately, I started using Python to write random scripts. I make a point of learning new things.

Being a good programmer means you must think like a programmer. It doesn't matter what language you use, as long as you understand the fundamentals of coding. To do that, you have to start somewhere. And Pascal is a very good place to start.
 
Concepts are the most important thing you can teach. I doubt Java and C# should be used at all in a university IT course. Definitely not until students have first grappled with a language like C++.

How many companies pay purely based on skill rather than looking to salary surveys?
 
Like I said, pay more, and people will be incentivised to get better qualifications, and pursue the career.

I agree wholeheartedly that high-end IT staff are expected to work like doctors, yet paid like VB programmers.
 
i disagree that we don't get paid enough.
lets look at it... if you choose the right area, you could be getting on a contract basis somewhere in the region of between 200-350ph.... how can this possibly be not enough. don't go permanent in IT, its not worth it.

sure, you may still struggle to pay for your M5, but maybe you should be focussing on more important things. that range above gives you between 32k and 56k per month... knock off on average between 25-33% in tax and you still take home a healthy slice of the pie.

but with this comes immense responsibility and effort. you have to give up a lot of your spare time and instead use that time to keep up with your ongoing studies and learning about new techs if you want to stay ahead of the game. the main reason why ppl don't get into IT is not about it being 'uncool', but because it truly is a lot of work, more than most ppl are willing to put in... i know... i've seen some shockingly pathetic developers.

as for certifications costing too much money, well, i can't really comment but the certifications in my field vary between R1300 and R2000, not a whole lot of money if you really want to get somewhere. studying doesn't have to include a university degree.... scan careerweb and careerjunction and u'll see they vary rarely ask for degrees, the one's that do are usually too shortsighted to see the value in practical experience. do those certs... it'll help you a lot.

but i do agree that BEE/AA is utter cr@p. i'm not white and I hate it because all it is is just a slap in the face as much as exclusion used to be. i don't see money as the main motivating factor, it may be that in the beginning but very soon you realise, or you SHOULD realise, that working without meaning is as bad as living without meaning.
 
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