Specialist recruitment agencies say many managers are expected to start hiring in this sector, despite suffering from talent shortages and rising wage pressures.
The 2024 Stelfox Salary Guide survey reveals that Ireland’s IT sector is gearing up for recovery.
Ireland turned out to be the biggest casualty when it came to job cuts by tech giants last year. The company accounted for 40% of EU job cuts over the past three years, according to Dublin-based EU agency Eurofound.
In the first half of last year, there were an estimated 2,300 layoffs at companies including Amazon, Google, Indeed, Meta, Microsoft, X, and Zendesk.
The Manpower Survey at the end of last year predicted further job losses in the sector in the first quarter of this year, but found that human resources and support jobs were the most likely to be lost.
Stelfox, which specializes in technology recruitment, has revealed that hiring appetite is once again positive. It predicts that the salaries of new employees in his IT sector will increase based on many emerging technologies.
A total of 41% of technology employers said they plan to grow their teams this year.
About 70% said wage pressures were a major hurdle to overcome.
83% of respondents say they are having trouble retaining skilled professionals as the demand for them increases.
A total of 63% of senior leaders believe hiring is difficult.
More than a third of IT professionals say they plan to look for a new job this year. However, while many employers want to see their teams in the office more often, 14pc only apply for remote working roles.
Last year, the number of jobs based solely on remote work fell by 24%.
According to the survey, the top five IT skill categories in demand this year are data science and AI, followed by security, software engineering, product management, software engineering methodologies, and DevOps.
Top new skills include Web 3.0, digital AI assistants, hyper-automation, and cloud-native platforms.
“Many companies are embracing a new learning culture as demand for technology skills outstrips supply,” said Claire McDonald, commercial director at Stelfox.
“Emerging technologies are changing rapidly, so by the time technology organizations build the teams they need, the skills required may have already changed.
“The acceleration of technology can effectively eliminate the talent pool altogether.”
He said many of the recruiting firm’s technology clients are thinking differently about where and how they acquire the skills they need, rather than just thinking about the number of employees.
Although the majority of companies believe that AI has the potential to improve productivity and working conditions, only 29% of companies agree that their organization has the skills to implement AI.
A total of 30 people said AI is already improving productivity in their business.
Regarding beliefs about the negative aspects of AI, the biggest quality lacking in the technology is empathy, followed by creativity, self-awareness, self-control, and emotional intelligence.