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Bankseta Skills ConferenceBankseta Skills Conference26 October 2007 – Gallagher Estate26 October 2007 – Gallagher Estate

Neil HarperNeil HarperStandard Bank Group IT – HR DirectorStandard Bank Group IT – HR Director

Demand for ICT Skills

Content

“The jobs are there, and they are high-paying jobs, but we are just not seeing the pipeline of people coming through the system.” – Neil Harper, 2007 Media release

• What can business / industry do?

• Background

• How does the supply of IT skills look?

• What is causing shrinkage of the IT skills pool?

• What is being done to address the gap?

• Questions

The challenge … we are a rapidly growing organisation and to meet shareholders expectation we need access to a skilled pool of candidates for employment … the pool is too small !

Background

• Standard Bank is a leading emerging markets bank

• We have a significant investment in Information Technology

• We require ongoing talent infusion, development & retention

www.standardbank.co.za/aboutus/careers

Background

• We are committed to skills development in South Africa & participate in the following initiatives:

• Annual graduate recruitment & development programme

• ITBLP (IT Business Learnership Programme)

• Focussed University relationships

• The Innovation Hub – post graduate study programme

• Soweto Festival Day – Information about IT careers

• Transformation committee social relevance

“South Africa's IT industry is facing a huge skills shortage and unless radical changes are implemented in its resourcing strategy, the industry will soon be left high and dry.” - Rudi Jansen, CE MWeb

“IT has never been a more exciting career than it is today.  Whether you are interested in business, music, marketing, art, publishing, technology, games, teaching, medicine, etc. you cannot escape the influence of

information technology.” – Prof. Carina de Villiers, Head Dept. Informatics University of Pretoria

How does the supply of IT skills look?

• New registrations for IT related studies

• New IT Graduates

• Size of skills pool shrinking at entry level

The challenge is to put the ‘WOW!’

into IT !!!!

South AfricaComputer Science Graduates

2949

3489

2600

2700

2800

2900

3000

3100

3200

3300

3400

3500

2000 - 2005

2000 2005

18%

Source: ICT Skills in South Africa: 19 March 2007 (Andrew Paterson – HSRC)

South AfricaComputer Science Graduates

Source: ICT Skills in South Africa: 19 March 2007 (Andrew Paterson – HSRC)

2949 2817

36723961

4729

3489

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

2000 - 2005

2000 20052001 2002 2003 2004

How does the supply of IT skills look?

• School leavers are not interested in studying IT

• “Current generation of young people have no idea of what working in IT is about.”

• “It’s not so much a case of demystifying the industry as changing negative perceptions, which may come from bad experiences with IT systems that the parents of prospective students may be exposed to”

• “… because of a lack of skilled teachers, the material is offered in such a way that learners lose interest.”

(Source: Prof. Basie Von Solms, President-Elect:IFIP Academy of Information Technology, University of Johannesburg)

“There are just not enough young adults coming out of school with the ability to move on into the tertiary level and undertake IT, engineering or science-focused degrees or diplomas." “ - Business Report, March 2007

“The question of whether there is a skills shortage should not really be subject to debate. There is unquestionably a shortage of certain types of IT skills.” – Chris Wilkins, Computing SA

How does the supply of IT skills look?

• International trends:

• “Growth within computer-related occupations from 2004 through 2014 will continue to put a strain on the pool of available talent.” – USA & Canada

• “Limited resource pool for global sourcing centres.” – Asia Pacific & Japan

• “… growth in demand will continue through 2010 and those who can conquer the squeeze for skills will gain competitive advantage.”

(Source: Gartner – Skills shortages and their impact on IT services providers, 17 April 2007)

“The IT industry, big business and the country’s educational institutions all have a role to play in building the pipeline of IT skills.” - Neil Harper

The most difficult to hire positions are:

• Project manager

• Database administrator

• Enterprise architect

• Network engineer

• Internet/Web architect

• Web application programme

• Business analyst

• Internet / Web System Administrator

• Security analyst

Gartner: Here We Go Again: A CIO’s Guide to Employee Retention & Engagement – 3 November 2006

How does the supply of IT skills look?

What is being done to address the gap?Birchwood Declaration

“Gathered at the invitation of the Minister of Education, Mrs Naledi Pandor, and called as a result of the recognition of the existence of a significant ICT skills gap between the workplace demand and the current rate of production

of the tertiary sector….”

“…an ICT Skills Development conference was held in March 2007 including members of the national department of education, formal and informal ICT

education sector, the ICT industry and other employers of ICT graduates…”

Source: Birchwood Declaration for Tertiary Level Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Skills Development – 25 July 2007

• University intake:

• Advocating ICT as a Career Choice

• Engaging with Schools

• Improving Success Rates

• University curriculum review

• Graduate production

• Infrastructure funding (human and physical)

• Involvement in “Grand Challenges” – e.g. Karoo Array Telescope & Square Kilometre Array

Source: Birchwood Declaration for Tertiary Level Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Skills Development – 25 July 2007

What is being done to address the gap?Birchwood Declaration – 5 Year Plan

“We have to increase the size of the pool – and we have to do it in the face on increasing competition from other organizations and industries. This is a challenge which goes to the sustainability of the IT industry as we know it.”

- Neil Harper

What can business / industry do?

• Establish & enhance relationships with universities & other academic organisations

• Expand and innovate your on-campus selection

• Engage with & support industry learnerships

• Transition skills from other industries

• Leverage your existing in-house talent

• Build communities of interest

• Develop a comprehensive retention programme

• Keep our skills in South Africa

• Bring our skills back to South Africa

What can business / industry do?Building the Skills Pool

Ski

lls

So

urc

eS

kill

s O

utp

ut

Skills Pool Leakages: • Baby boomers retire• Change of lifestyle required• Immigration• Change in career

Project Manager

Data Administrator

Enterprise Architect

Network Engineer

Internet/WebArchitect

Business & SecurityAnalysts O

ther

Re-skilled employeesInternal & External

University Graduates

Schools of Technology

Vendor academy support

Learnerships&

Short courses

Matriculants

“With the exception of companies that are making genuine efforts to develop new skills, the majority of ICT companies and their partners need to do much more with regard to investing in and developing human capital.”

– Kaunda Chama, IT Web, 10 July 2006

Effective leadership engagement for retention

Skills Resource

Pool

What can business / industry do?Retention

• Retention and employee engagement have no magic formula

• The quality and the promise of the work solidify commitment

• The calibre of peers matters

• Connect retention tactics to people's future value

• Workforce biases today will affect retention tomorrow

• Flexible work arrangements must be on the agenda

What does a retention programme consist of?

• The relationship an employee has with their direct Line Manager is critical for retention

• The extent to which employees are engaged determines the individuals’ intention to stay or leave

• Retention is the result of effective & integrated People Management practices

Other factors to consider:

“The IT industry, big business and the country’s educational institutions all have a role to play in building the pipeline of IT skills.” - Neil Harper

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