Published on the 24/03/2016 | Written by Newsdesk
If you are a business analyst, software developer or project manager, then you’re in luck (and no need to worry about a degree)…
Appreciation of the number eight wire spirit is alive and well when it comes to hiring in the tech sector, according to Absolute IT’s latest Tech Employer Insight. Of the more than 400 technology employers surveyed, 49 percent of private sector tech employers rate hands-on experience the highest, followed by a university degree (19 percent) and industry-specific training coming in third. In the public sector, a university degree comes in dead last (19 percent) while hands-on experience takes out the top with 42 percent preferring it to any other form of training.
Grant Burley, Director of Absolute IT said that while he was surprised by the result, it doesn’t mean that a degree is not worth the effort. “Our previous research has shown that IT professionals with ten years’ experience and a degree can earn upwards of 12 percent more than those without a degree, and this gap increases as their careers progress.”
The type of jobs on offer is also changing with almost two thirds of tech employers (61 percent) saying they expect to see an increase in digital roles in their business. Twenty percent think they will create a role for a chief digital officer or digital manager this year.
“Over the last year we have seen an increase of 70 percent in vacancies for digital roles and there are simply not enough skilled professionals to occupy these roles in our fastest growing sector,” said Burley.
That said the top three most-recruited for positions remain business analyst, project manager and software developer. Thirty-five percent of respondents said they plan to hire all three of these skills this year.
The technology market has continued to grow at a rate of nine percent per annum since 2008 and there are still plenty of opportunities out there for skilled IT professionals. In 2015, 79 percent of the firms questioned said they were planning to hire new IT talent and it is a similar story this year (76 percent). The same holds true for pay rises: 95 percent of respondents said they were either planning to give their IT staff a pay increase, or are yet to decide (it was 94 percent in 2015).
Burley said: “Our IT sector is becoming a growing success and in turn attracting international attention. In the latest Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific Index, 54 New Zealand tech companies were listed, setting a new record for Kiwi representation and painting a picture of a buoyant and healthy IT sector.”
It is no surprise then, that tech employers count staff retention and attraction as their number one business challenge for the year ahead. This is in line with global ratings which put ‘hiring’ as the second biggest business challenge for businesses in 2016.
