For suitably skilled job hunters the electronics industry is pretty much a good news story - a skills shortage in a growth industry. If you're considering a career or a college course, this sector is well worth investigating. Despite hiccups, it's a vibrant area and is likely to remain so for the forseeable future, according to Frank Ryan, the IDA's manager - electronics and engineering division.
According to the IDA, over 300 foreign-owned electronics companies are developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide range of leading edge products in Ireland and employing up to 33,000 people. Companies such as Dell which makes personal computers, Hewlett Packard which makes inkjet printer cartridges and Intel which makes microprocessors are among the largest employers. Last year electronic jobs with the multinationals increased by 5,000.
Despite devastating closures such as Seagate in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, the IDA's line is that the industry is continuing to grow and people with the appropriate skills and experience will remain highly sought after.
Irish-owned companies have benefited from the advent of these overseas organisations. The number of indigenous electronic companies providing support to the foreignowned companies has mushroomed in recent years. Already 10,000 people are employed in this sector. The sub-contract market is growing faster than the industry itself, according to Tom Kennedy, Forbairt's company manager - electronics and healthcare.
While the global electronics industry is growing by 15 per cent a year, the sub-contracting sector is increasing by 35 per cent, he observes. "More and more the multinationals are pushing out their in-house processes to outsiders," says Kennedy. "The skills required by the multinationals are now being mimicked by the sub-contractors. The sub-contracting industry uses technicians with specialist skills - engineering, plastics, moulding, metal fabrication and wiring assembly, for example."
Graduate engineers are currently starting on annual salaries of around £12,000, rising to £22,000 after five years. Technicians with national certificates, meanwhile, can expect to start on £11,000 rising to £19,000 after five years, says Ryan of the IDA.
Companies vary in their requirements. Some employers are looking for graduate engineers with academic backgrounds, while others seek people who have come up via the technician route. "A lot of companies prefer people with certificate and diploma qualifications because they have more practical experience," Ryan says.
However, the fact that you have an electronics qualification doesn't confine you to a particular job in a particular industry. You could as easily find yourself working in petrochemicals, for example. If you have a particular bent you could also find yourself in marketing, production management or even academia.
"Some people add on an MBA degree and go in to general management," says Ryan. "The profile of a general manager in the electronics industry in Ireland is someone with either an engineering or a financial background with an MBA, earning a minimum of £70,000 a year."
