IT Sector Sees Salary Uplift Continue Into Second Half Of 2017
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With Ireland firmly recognised as an IT hub, with a blend of companies ranging from multinationals to SMEs and a strong start-up culture, it will continue to attract talent from around Europe as well as support a strong indigenous talent pool. Companies in Ireland have geared recruitment processes accordingly and the vast majority of teams are now truly multicultural. Ireland’s IT sector is world-renowned and is expected to grow much larger. Our reputation as a centre of software excellence is unrivaled in Europe. It is home to over 900 software companies, including both multinational and indigenous firms, employing over 100,000 people and generating €80 billion of exports annually.
The sector’s wide ranging activities include software development, R&D, business services and EMEA/International headquarters. Almost every globally recognised software company has a base in Ireland. This has not only catapulted Ireland to being one of the major global players in the software sector, but has created a deep pool of talent that has turned Ireland into a hotbed for indigenous firms. In a market that continues to be heavily candidate led, we expect to see a further uplift in salaries across the remainder of the year for all levels of experience. Candidates can expect to receive multiple offers as well as counter offers from their current company. This will focus attention on overall benefits packages as well as career prospects within a company in the IT sector.
Last year we saw a continuation in the uplift of salaries across all skill-sets, particularly with JavaScript, Java, Functional development (Scala, Clojure, GO, Erlang) and Python developer salaries at senior level. Typical increases have ranged from 7-8% for candidates with a couple of years’ strong commercial experience, and increases of 10%+ for over half the mid and senior level candidates who either moved company or received a salary increase.
Software Development in the IT Sector
Last year was another successful year for software developers in Ireland, particularly in the areas of Java and further demand for the emerging functional languages of Scala and Clojure. We witnessed a large number of Java developers transitioning to these new technologies, which looks set to continue into the near future as companies explore the capabilities of this further. The Java development market will remain extremely strong for the rest of the year with continued demand for Java developers at all levels of experience. The challenge for employers year is the ability to attract top talent which is the primary factor impacting team growth, and therefore scalability, for many companies. We expect to see a further shortening of the interview process from application to offer and other more aggressive recruitment policies.
Design
More and more businesses are discovering the value of customization, the opportunity to deliver a customized experience, and the additional revenue potential that can be generated from it. Customization has become increasingly significant to brand name companies because it’s now part of a broader trend, which shifts from viewing customers as recipients of value to co-creators of value. Rather than being passive, the customer is now becoming a crucial part of the experience. What we have learnt from the past year is that the IT sector is continuing to develop at an accelerated pace and the skills in the market are slightly behind what companies are seeking. The recruitment of overseas candidates is becoming more widely recognised in order to fill the demand in the current market. Companies are having to be more flexible in their actual requirements or be more open to training and development. One of the major skill shortages and demands for candidates that we have seen recently is in the area of front end development, in frameworks such as AngularJS and React.
Infrastructure
The most prevalent skills that are still required are in the areas of Windows, UNIX and Linux, with virtualisation a key aspect of an emerging technology skill set that’s required in this space also (VMWare, Hyper V, VDI etc.). Network Engineering is also finally moving with the times, with software defined networking (Openstack technologies etc.) catching up on other more traditional areas that have been automated before. Specialists with experience in this field will be very sought after over the coming year, whilst IT security and cyber security are areas that remain particularly buoyant. With the continued emergence and advancement of cloud based technologies across the industry, this trend is set to continue for some time to come. The trend towards automation looks set to continue, with DevOps and collaboration services being the key drivers of technology in this area. Recruitment challenges are similar to 2016, in that companies are looking to hire candidates with similar skills from a talent pool that remains competitive.
Gaming
Ireland has witnessed dynamic growth within the mobile and games development industry with a dramatic increase in both indie and multinational gaming organisations. Employment within this industry has increased tenfold in recent years with over 7,000 candidates directly employed today. There has also been an increase in the number of companies using mobile applications across other sectors such animation, film, consumer internet and e-learning. This in turn has caused a surge in the demand for experienced individuals within this specialised industry with many companies sourcing candidates from Ireland as well as mainland EU.
Data Analytics
With companies becoming more aware of the commercial opportunities from Big Data, we are seeing a major increase in investment for recruitment within this vertical. Ireland is fast becoming a world leader in Big Data, machine learning, AI, Fintech and cloud computing. Further to this, we are beginning to see an increase in non-technological companies leveraging analytics to help gain a competitive edge within their market space. This means that more traditional analytics roles are being combined to form a unique combination of skills that may not have been seen before.
