DESPITE RECENT increases in the unemployment rate, an estimated 7,000 vacancies remain unfilled in the technology sector while average salaries are continuing to increase, writes John Collins.
Shane Dempsey, director of the Irish Software Association, says the industry is now facing a potential "skills gap" as there is a time lag between students training in technology and being available to work.
The number of students choosing to study computer science, engineering and other technical courses at third level is of major concern to the local industry.
According to Dempsey, Dublin City University (DCU) has one of the most respected computing courses in the country. In 2005, 224 people graduated from the degree course and he says "almost all were employed soon after".
The following year, the number of graduates dropped sharply to 92, while in 2007 it fell again to 78.
Dempsey says the course is expected to produce about 60 computer scientists a year for the foreseeable future.
The drop-off in people pursuing careers in technology is directly related to the boom and bust of the late 1990s and early years of this decade, according to Ciarán Ennis, corporate affairs manager with IBM Ireland.
"That tainted the industry and it coincided with a boom in construction," says Ennis. With all sectors of the construction industry - from building firms to estate agents - now laying off staff, he says these people should consider retraining for jobs in technology.
"Numeracy is the primary skill needed in the industry - on top of that we can build the [technology] skills," Ennis adds.
IBM employs more than 3,000 staff in Ireland - primarily at its Dublin Technology Campus in Mulhuddart - and has 100-120 vacancies at any given time. He says the jobs are not just for programmers but in sales, finance, operations and other more general areas.
IBM is not the only multinational actively recruiting.
Microsoft has more than 70 open positions according to Tom Murphy, the software giant's head of public relations. He says the vacancies are in both its development and operations centres which between them employ more than 1,100 staff.
"We are always recruiting, but for highly skilled roles, engineers in particular. We are having to attract them from abroad," Murphy adds. "Fortunately Dublin is still a very attractive location for other Europeans."
Google, which now has more than 1,600 staff at its European headquarters in Dublin, purposely set up in the capital so that it could attract multilingual staff from across the region.
"We firmly believe that Dublin can be 'the' hub for globally traded services," said John Herlihy, vice president for online sales and operations with the internet firm.
"It's no longer just about Europe alone; we now work with customers and users across Europe, Middle East and Africa."
Google has 100 open positions ranging from engineering and technology roles to finance and operational managers.
Even Dell, which had 250 redundancies in April as part of a global cost cutting exercise, has confirmed it continues to recruit for "specific roles to support growth segments of the business in both Cherrywood and Limerick".
It currently employs 4,300 at both sites.
While the big names of the technology industry are importing people to fill the roles, smaller firms are establishing overseas development centres. Specialist telecoms software firm Openmind Networks has just under 50 staff but employs five engineers at a centre in Prague.
The centre allows the company to get close to its customers in the region and Prague has a strong pedigree in the core skills that Openmind needs, says Michael O'Brien, vice president of marketing.
"We're quite specialised so we have problems recruiting - not just engineers but at all levels," O'Brien adds.
