CIOs have raised concern about IT education providers needing to enhance their services to meet employment market demands.
- 53% of Singaporean CIOs believe education providers need to focus more on IT security to meet the demands of the IT employment market, followed by business analysis (39%), data/database management (36%), digitisation (32%) and software/application development (27%).
- 64% say IT security is the top functional area within the IT industry where the most jobs will be created in Singapore in the next five years, followed by data/database management (48%) and software/application development (47%).
- 92% say it is more challenging to find qualified IT professionals compared to five years ago.
Singaporean CIOs have raised concern in an independent survey commissioned by specialised recruiter Robert Half of the need for IT education providers to enhance their services to meet employment market demands. The general consensus among the city-state’s technology leaders is that educational institutions need to focus more on key functional IT areas to meet the demands of the IT job market, particularly within IT security (53%), business analysis (39%), data/database management (36%), digitisation (32%) and software/application development (27%).
Singapore is facing an ongoing skills shortage within technology with more than nine in 10 (92%) CIOs saying it is more challenging to find qualified IT professionals compared to five years ago. This challenge is expected to become much more apparent in the coming years as some of the key IT areas as identified by CIOs that require more focus from educators to meet the demands of the future employment market align with the IT areas where the same CIOs say most IT jobs will be created over the next five years, specifically IT security (64%), data/database management (48%) and software/application development (47%).
Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard, Managing Director at Robert Half Singapore said: “As the pace of technological advancement continues to accelerate so too must the development of IT skillsets. Not only do new IT candidates entering the employment market need to master the skills necessary to manage future technologies, companies also need to ensure current staff continuously update their skillsets to keep pace with changing technological trends – and education providers play a highly integral role in this context.”
“Educational institutions need to ensure their STEM qualifications, courses and degrees evolve at the same pace as technology does as they play a vital role in securing a continuous flow of skilled IT professionals into the employment market, as well as upskilling working professionals in new technologies, processes and programs that can greatly benefit any business.”
“To help close the current and future technology skills gap, a comprehensive approach is needed with educational institutions working alongside the business community and government to ensure a continuous and sufficient influx of qualified IT talent, and adequately ‘market’ the benefits and opportunities available with a career in IT and technology,” concluded Mr Imbert-Bouchard.
##
About the research
The annual study is developed by Robert Half and was conducted in June-July 2017 by an independent research firm, surveying 75 CIOs/CTOs in Singapore. This survey is part of the international workplace survey, a questionnaire about job trends, talent management and trends in the workplace.
MEDIA CONTACT
Katherine Mills
Public Relations Manager, Asia Pacific
P: +61 2 8028 7757
E: [email protected]