Ireland faces a considerable challenge to meet the future skills needs of its indigenous IT sector according to a new report.
The study was commissioned by Scale Ireland, an independent not-for-profit representative organisation for Irish tech start-up and scaling companies.
The research was undertaken by labour market experts, David Collings, Professor of Sustainable Business at Trinity Business School, and Dr Shirley Kavanagh, an executive adviser and consultant specialising in talent management, workforce development, and organisational strategy.
The report found that Ireland performs well in producing ICT graduates, but current supply models will be insufficient to meet future demand.
According to the study, reskilling and upskilling of employees is likely to be critical.
"Organisations must invest in continuous learning, upskilling and reskilling to meet emerging skills needs," the report found.
"A key risk is that SMEs including indigenous tech start-ups and scaling companies are less likely to have a talent development strategy in place," it added.
The researchers found that it is unlikely that third level institutions alone will provide sufficient supply to meet the growing skills demands of the ICT sector.
"We recommend a greater focus on other routes to entry to the labour market such as apprenticeships," the report authors said.
According to the research, the IT sector is already highly reliant on migrant labour with as much as 40% of employment in the sector already undertaken by non-national labour.
The report points to the importance of targeted global messaging about employment opportunities and the importance of an efficient employment permit system.
The study found that the overall ICT sector (indigenous and multinational) may require as many as 89,590 new positions by 2030.
