IT skills not utilised properly

By Christelle du Toit, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 19 Jul 2007

Research shows 42% of IT firms are in need of specialised skills. The IT sector is the third-most in need of expertise, after the furniture industry (57%) and the construction industry (45%).

This is according to training firm Astro Tech, and based, in part, on research from the University of Cape Town's school of economics.

The research was based on a literature review and, therefore, does not indicate the exact number of IT specialists needed. However, Astro Tech points out that the skills shortage can also be linked to a misappropriation of existing skills in companies.

Astro Tech trainer Beatrice Attrill says SA has among the lowest skills training levels in the world. She believes the country appoints the wrong people to management positions, leading to a less productive workforce. The IT sector in SA is no exception, as Attrill says specialists are often shoved into managerial positions and hate it.

"Many find it enormously difficult to let go of their specialist area and to delegate and trust other people."

According to Attrill, many specialists may well be "intellectually very astute", but they have narrow outlooks on life and dealing with people.

"IT people are among the most aloof; they don't want to emerge from their oyster. For bosses to appoint such people as managers can be problematic if the expert continues to operate from the frame of reference that they are the solution and provider of everything. They then battle to work with a team of people until they acknowledge the wealth of expertise around them."

SA also lags with regards to the training of needed skills, with only 44% of these skills being cultivated in the country. This, according to Astro Tech CEO Liza van Zyl, compares poorly with countries such as Brazil and India, which train 77.3% and 55%, respectively, of their skilled workers.

This week, minister of labour Membathisi Mdladlana said he could quantify exactly how many ICT specialists the country needs. His office has, however, been unable to produce this data. Analysts say no such data exists in the marketplace.

ICT counts among the critically needed skills identified under the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for SA. However, quotas announced by the Department of Home Affairs earlier this year for foreign experts to be brought into the country did not include ICT specialists.