The skills shortage in the Irish information technology sector has worsened dramatically over the past two years, according to a new survey. Only 30 per cent of large companies now believe staff with IT skills are easily available, compared to nearly three-quarters of companies in 1996, according to the findings of the Information Society Commission survey. Presenting the findings, Ms Vivienne Jupp, chairwoman of the commission, said Irish companies were doing very little to alleviate the skills shortage. Even though 85 per cent said they expected their workers to be able to use a PC, a third admitted they gave their staff no IT training. Where 88 per cent of companies said they believed their staff needed regular retraining, only 13 per cent actually provide frequent training.
"Small businesses need to gain greater understanding of the opportunities and benefits afforded by the information society. Training is another important issue which needs to be addressed. Companies will require highly-skilled workers and must share the burden in terms of training them," Ms Jupp said.
The level of IT awareness still scores low among smaller companies - those with less than 50 employees - where nearly a quarter say they feel new technologies will have little or no impact on their competitiveness. Even in businesses with more than 100 employees, only 62 per cent said they see new technologies as "essential" to their business.
The survey, conducted by Lansdowne Market Research, was carried out on an interview basis with 499 chief executives. Its findings compared very favourably with similar studies conducted in Britain, US, France, Germany and Japan, with the Republic emerging at the forefront of new technology take-up. In one-fifth of companies, all employees are using a computer, and three-quarters of businesses now have Internet access - a figure which has doubled since the last Information Society Commission survey in 1996. One-third of Irish companies said they had an Internet site and a further 36 per cent said they were "very likely" to establish one next year. Nearly three-quarters of the companies surveyed said email was a frequently used application in their business.
Ms Jupp said the Information Society Commission would be tackling the problem of raising IT awareness among smaller companies in the State with the launch of a £250,000 awareness campaign in the new year. Conducted in association with IBEC, the campaign will feature a series of seminars and presentations designed to educate smaller businesses about the advantages of electronic commerce.
