omniture

Kelly Unveils Findings From Its First IT Skills Study in Asia Pacific

Kelly Services, Inc.
2008-10-03 17:17 769

SINGAPORE, Oct. 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Kelly Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: KELYA, KELYB), a world leader in human resources solutions, today unveils its first IT Skills Study in Asia Pacific, providing businesses and employers with insights on the most significant IT talent issues and methods adopted to address these issues.

With respondents consisting of senior IT decision makers and hiring managers in a range of medium and large national or multinational organizations, the web-based study explored the critical skills needs and skills shortage in the IT workforce as well as the attraction and retention strategies and tactics undertaken by organizations to ensure a high-performance IT workforce.

Overwhelmingly, the study found that the lack of IT professionals with relevant skills has a negative impact on organization's ability to serve clients and customers. Almost 80% of respondents describe the adverse effect on their business as moderate to severe.

"With more than 440 leading organizations participating in the study, we can see that the IT skills shortage is real and is fast approaching a critical state," Dhirendra Shantilal, Senior Vice President -- Asia Pacific of Kelly Services said.

"Changing demographic profiles, globalization and innovation in technology open up new opportunities and put a greater focus on jobs which require specialized IT skills while making existing ones obsolete rapidly," Mr Shantilal added.

According to the study, 42% of respondents cite the lack of experience amongst the current IT workforce as the driver behind the shortage of qualified IT talent. This was followed by the unpreparedness of new IT staff to meet the business needs and the organization's lack of ability to train and develop staff.

"In many countries in Asia Pacific, there is rapid innovation in technology. In addition, the IT job market has been very active in the past two to three years due to the setting up of IT hubs and regional shared services centers which see a boost in the demand for experienced IT professionals and teams to manage and support these operations," commented Mr Shantilal.

The study also showed that there is significant overlap between the technical skills considered most critical within an organization and the technical skills cited as the shortest in supply. Four of the top five technical skills and non-technical skills with the greatest shortage of IT talent are among the top five technical and non-technical skills that are considered to be most important for IT professionals in their organization. The technical skills include applications development and integration, data management, enterprise systems integration/customization and customer relationship management (CRM), while the non-technical skills are communication, creative thinking, problem solving/decision making and initiative/enterprise.

"Apart from good academic qualifications and experience, business or soft skills are just as important for IT professionals in order to succeed in their job," Mr Shantilal added.

To overcome the gaps in both technical and non-technical skills, the two most popular means for remedying the shortfall are to hire from other companies and to train existing employees.

"The hiring of IT talent from other companies to cover skills shortages is intensifying the war for talent in the marketplace as it can also drive up employer’s costs significantly and may not be effective in the longer term. Instead, strategies such as offering employees opportunities to develop new skills and competencies are critical in winning the war for talent. Training and development is increasingly seen as a valuable benefit within the overall compensation package and can make a difference for organizations that are seeking to attract and retain the best talent," added Mr Shantilal.

When asked about sourcing IT talent, 70% of organizations work with recruitment companies and turn to internet/ job portals at the same time.

"Many IT employees have access to sensitive personal information of customers and employers want to verify their credentials before hiring them. Recruitment companies should go beyond matching a resume with a job description and be a better partner to organizations by managing the process of selecting the best IT talent," Mr Shantilal pointed out.

The IT skills shortage, Mr Shantilal suggested, needs to be tackled from all areas and by the stakeholders including the individual, the employer, the industry and education institutions alongside the local government's workforce programs. One of the key ways to address this is for employers to partner with their employees to create the right culture, environment and infrastructure support and encourage their staff to take responsibility for their own career development and growth.

About Kelly Services

Kelly Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: KELYA, KELYB) is a world leader in human resources solutions headquartered in Troy, Michigan, offering temporary staffing services, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement to clients on a global basis. Kelly provides employment to more than 750,000 employees annually, with skills including office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law, science, marketing, creative services, light industrial, education, and health care. Revenue in 2007 was $5.7 billion. Visit http://www.kellyservices.com .

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jaquilin Ang

Tel: +65-6494-6066

Mobile: +65-9758-6282

Email: jaquilin_ang@kellyservices.com.sg

Source: Kelly Services, Inc.
Keywords: Food/Beverages
collection