The Abrivia Salary Survey 2019 unveiled many interesting insights into Ireland’s burgeoning ICT sector. Below are some of the main highlights from both employers and employees in this hugely important sector for the Irish economy:
Employers in Ireland’s ICT Sector
- 67% of ICT firms increased their net headcount in 2018
- 95% of ICT firms said they’d be increasing their headcount in 2019, the highest of all the sectors surveyed
- 93% said they expected salaries to increase in 2019, mainly between 3-5%.
- 75% planned to pay bonuses in 2019
- About a quarter of employers in ICT said they found sales and marketing roles one of the most difficult to fill
- Almost 85% were willing to provide visa sponsorship for difficult to fill roles, the highest of all the sectors surveyed
- Almost half said that the salary expectations for visa sponsored employees were the same as those already living in Ireland
- 65% said that shortage of rental accommodation was impacting on their ability to recruit staff
- 57% said they expected to lose employees this year over increasing rents
Employees in Ireland’s ICT Sector
- Had the highest number of freelance/independent contractors of all the sectors – 7.5%
- Over half cited work-life balance as the main reason for continuing to stay with their present employer, followed by interesting work, pay satisfaction and job flexibility
- Of those who came to Ireland to work, salary and career advancement prospects were the main reasons for doing so, followed by work-life balance and friends and family
- 28% in the ICT sector they’d be willing to take a salary drop of between 6-10% for the opportunity of working outside Dublin
- 79% are expecting an increase in their salary in 2019, with the majority reckoning between 3-5%.
- 16% of ICT said they wouldn’t consider moving to Dublin.
- While 57% don’t plan to change jobs in 2019, over two-thirds of those surveyed in this sector were very confident of their abilities to easily switch to another job if they so desired.
- 91% would seek out reviews before accepting an interview with a prospective employer, the highest of all the sectors, with 81% saying a negative review of a company’s working environment would put them off accepting an interview.
- Glassdoor is still the most popular place for company reviews, followed by Irishjobs and Indeed.
- Over half said that sick pay would have some impact on them accepting a role with a company, along with a reputation for diversity
- 75% do not have a private pension and most were unaware of the conditions for auto-enrolment pensions to be introduced by the government but over half agreed that it was a good idea.
ICT REVIEW AND EXPECTATIONS FOR 2019
Organisations are already experiencing the impact of AI as employees are requested to use AI technologies to assist them in accomplishing their daily workload. Over the next several years, employees will rely more on the assistance of AI to achieve their daily tasks.
Andrew Meehan, associate director of Technology Recruitment at Abrivia said that the Irish government needs to continue to relax the visa requirements for non-EU citizens with in-demand IT skills in 2019. ‘There is a very talented pool of Brazilian, Indian, and Pakistani candidates to name just a few nationalities, that could ease the pain for employers across most IT sectors and help to manage wage demand growth.’
High demand areas still include Automation Engineers, Cyber Security, and DevOp Engineers. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are continuing to make developments here with some of the large financial services clients bolstering their robotic process automation (RPA) capabilities by hiring senior strategy and hands on development personnel.
