The new skills imbalance

In the 1990s, the IT brain drain had recruiters and local companies worried. All the top skilled workers were emigrating, leaving a potentially serious skills shortage in SA.

The brain drain tide has now turned, although the right skills are still in short supply in some IT sectors.

Many sectors of the industry have an oversupply of under-qualified or inexperienced staff, while top posts - especially in affirmative action areas - are not easy to fill. The old problem of finding staff with both technical and business management skills has not been solved either.

"The skills shortage is not over yet, but the nature of the shortage has changed," says Susan Haiden, client development manager at The Insource Group.

"Today, the skills shortage is more specific and results from advances in technology, lack of suitably qualified employment equity candidates and inflexibility in terms of skills requirements."

Haiden says Insource is seeing the continuous return of contractors who left SA on short-term assignments - only to return after a few years to seek permanent employment in a market that has moved on technologically, leaving the contractor 'underskilled`.

Adrian Schofield, former CompTIA MD and now GM of The People Business` recruitment and contracting arm, says The People Business gets several applications a week from South Africans working abroad who would like to return home. "Some of these are because their contracts have expired or been terminated, and some because their families would like to return home. The global stagnation in the IT market and the strengthening of the rand may be additional factors."

"Retraining or upskilling is often the only option available as South African companies, facing time or budgetary constraints, are not open to employing these `underskilled` returnees," says Haiden. "Also, returnees have often lost touch with the South African market, resulting in unrealistic expectations of their worth."

Org Geldenhuys, director of Pretoria-based IT recruitment company Abacus Recruitment, says his company sees a significant number of applicants who are unemployed, having returned from overseas.

"We are certainly seeing a not insignificant number of people returning from overseas. Last September, for instance, about 20% of our placements were people who had returned to SA."

Recruiters agree that there are many skilled people available in SA. The problem is that in many cases, their skills are simply not in demand. The introduction of new technologies drives a need for highly specialised skills. Companies want staff who already have these technical skills and experience - they are not prepared or able to invest in a lengthy training process to upskill a candidate.

Geldenhuys says there is a major shortage of senior candidates. "There is also a shortage of high-calibre `equity candidates` and many of the top-level vacancies are not filled for months."

He points out that there is a pressing shortage of good technical skills in areas such as .Net and C#, with Java architects currently in short supply. "We are also struggling to find consulting-type candidates. These are people with a mix of technical and business skills, who are presentable and know how to interface with people at a high level. If you find the right candidate with these skills, then they are almost guaranteed a job."

On the other hand, Geldenhuys reports that there appears to be an over-supply of graduates and networking professionals. He also notes: "The hype around the take-on of Linux has not filtered through to the ground floor yet. People think that if they have Linux skills they will be employed, but this is not necessarily the case. Frankly, right now it is easier to find employment for someone with good Microsoft skills."

[CHART]Haiden says some of the skills shortage can be attributed to advances in IT. "South African companies buy brand new, advanced technologies from international vendors that, while solving specific business issues, are not readily supportable in our market. Lack of timely and adequate upskilling results in an immediate shortage of skills in the niche market."

Haiden also blames employers for contributing to a skills shortage in some areas. "Local employers often have unrealistic expectations as to the availability and experience levels of certain skills, resulting in highly specific and inflexible requirements on job specifications. This, coupled with a general refusal (due to lack of time or budgetary constraints) to upskill excellent but slightly inexperienced candidates, creates a perpetual `skills imbalance`."

Schofield believes that the IT industry is generally over-traded, with most companies having more capacity than they have orders. Categories that are over-supplied include legacy skills, mainframe programmers, PC technicians and junior Web developers.

However, Schofield says skilled project and business unit managers are always in demand.

"Currently, there is strong demand for sales/technical sales skills - a reflection of the need to increase revenues in most vendors. I would not say that these are severe shortages, except where the employer is seeking affirmative action candidates."

Affirmative action is increasingly forcing white male candidates out of the workplace, resulting in an untapped pool of skills and experience.

"They have definitely been affected, especially those in the 40+ age bracket or in senior management positions," says Geldenhuys. "This situation is actually getting worse, and more and more companies are under pressure to meet the equity provisos. We get calls on a daily basis from desperate white `40-somethings`. In the majority of cases, unless they are brilliant, we just can`t help."

He adds: "The employment breakdown in companies has to reflect the country`s demographics and some clients insist on a 75% quota for black personnel. Many 40+ white males go into consulting due to this equity barrier, but there is only so much consulting work out there."

Schofield agrees. "Without a doubt, it is more difficult for aging pale males to find new employment. Those who have cultivated a network over the last few years and maintained the currency of their knowledge have a definite advantage."

Geldenhuys adds that there are an increasing number of candidates currently unemployed. "A lot of people are unemployed nowadays when they approach us, compared to two or three years ago. From what we can gauge, about 30% of those people who contact us looking for work are unemployed at the time. This is across all race groups, although we see a particularly high number of white males aged 40 and older."

With some posts left vacant for months while scores of skilled unemployed IT professionals sit idle, it seems the SA IT industry still has some way to go before it gets the skills balance right.

Recruiters say constant upgrading of skills is one way for IT professionals to stay marketable, with a combination of business and technical skills the best option.

On the other hand, employers could be a little more flexible in terms of the investment they are prepared to make in upskilling their existing staff, so avoiding lengthy and expensive delays in filling vital posts.