Short term future of IT in Ireland..

B

Boogeyman

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Just wanted to know what peoples opinions are for the short term future of IT in Ireland and job prospects. I'm currently an IT contractor and I have gotten mixed messages from people in this business on whats going to happen over the next couple of years. I took volunatary redundancy during the downturn in 2001/2002 and was glad that I did as it gave me the oppurtunity to travel for a year. By the time I returned it had thankfully picked up again. Do people think that a similar decline will happen with the state of the US finances at the moment or is the industry stable enough to withstand the economic turmoil...?
 
Hiya, I'm not a computer head at all, but one thing to remember is that the world isn't going to stop due to the US mess. There are enough computer cos operating in Ireland that there should always be positions available.
 
What about the term 'When the US sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold' ?
I do feel fairly optimistic myself but It does worry me when I speak to people who were out of employment during the 2001/2002 bust for 6 months or more so the potential is definately there for something similar to happen..
 
IT has become an essential service to most businesses just like electricity, water and phone. Most companies cannot do without it. Its as immune from recession in the US as electricity, water and phone are. People erroneously think as IT as an optional extra luxury consumer item that will take the same hit in a recession as e.g. luxury cars.
 
Depends on what kind of IT role you are in. I'd say over the coming years a high number of jobs in support (particularly level 1 and 2 support) and software development will be offshored to India and other lower cost centres.....There will be continued demand for project managers to act as the interface to customers and companies.....What kind of job are you in?
 
The role I am in is usually Project Management or Test Management type areas. I kinda get the impression from alot of companies that the whole indian outsourcing isn't really working out and alot of them are not seeing that as an option anymore..
 
contract positions are the first to go in a downturn, regardless of what the role is. One particular bank has stopped hiring contractors and are not renewing contracts for existing. It's seen as an easy cost saving regardless of effect on projects etc...

If you're concerned about job security, consider looking for a permanent position.

software development will be offshored to India and other lower cost centres.....
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this probably won't be the case - it has been touted for years. What is actually happening is that a lot of developers are being sourced from India, Poland etc. to work in Ireland.
 
rmelly said:
contract positions are the first to go in a downturn, regardless of what the role is. One particular bank has stopped hiring contractors and are not renewing contracts for existing. It's seen as an easy cost saving regardless of effect on projects etc...

If you're concerned about job security, consider looking for a permanent position.

this probably won't be the case - it has been touted for years.
Click to expand...

This is the case for some large organisations I have worked with. It is a reality today..If its not India, it will be somewhere else....I'm not saying all roles but certainly a high percentage.....
 
This article talks growth in the IT sector this year.

[broken link removed]

I'm an IT contractor (web developer) and I don't see any down turn this year for me.
 
I've been looking to move jobs this year, Java/Oracle.
The market is poor for a job seeker.
Maybe I've been unlucky, but 3 out of the 4 interviews I've done have left me feeling short-changed by the company involved.
1. Didn't get the job, not enough experience, fair enough.
2. Offered 20% pay cut. As a mortgage holder, this would be financial suicide.
3. Passed 1st interview but was given less than 24hours notice for 2nd interview. Could not make that, but company would not reschedule.
4. Interview cancelled at less than 8 hours notice... job had been filled the previous week.

Now, I'm not saying I'm the greatest candidate in the world. However, in 3 out of 4 cases the companys' could have shown some more respect, some flexibility, I think. But the ball is in the employer's court and they can do what they want at present.
 
rmelly said:
contract positions are the first to go in a downturn, regardless of what the role is. One particular bank has stopped hiring contractors and are not renewing contracts for existing. It's seen as an easy cost saving regardless of effect on projects etc...

If you're concerned about job security, consider looking for a permanent position.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I disagree that this is necessarily true. Sometimes the contractors are the ones who survive, and the permies are made redundant.

Maybe something to do with headcount / accountancy reasons, maybe the contractors actually are better value for money in terms of total cost and benefit, but for whatever reason I have seen this happen several times.

For good or for bad, there's no such thing as a permanent job.
 
There'll always be some work for IT people on site. But how big that market will be is anyone's guess. It can only shrink so far. Outsourcing is a mixed bag. Its not always cost effective, but sometimes it is. IT becomes more complex every year and its gets harder to stay current. But the best skilled people will always find work, especially at the higher end and more experienced roles. People will say they can't find people with the right skills. But then no one trains people up and they won't pay enough at the lower end to attract people into it. I think IT people have to be very aware of their skillset at all times.
 
HI,

I am in IT. We have been outsourcing development/testing for the past couple of years as it was more cost effective. However I think the tides are turning on the outsourcing model. We have found them in general to be sloppy in their work, with the permanent staff having to pick up after them. With the way the American economy is, our company is being cautious at the minute and they appear to be cutting staff in the outsourced companies. I can see our company turning away from outsourcing in the next couple of years and turning back to permanent in house staff.
 
I work in a fairly big Irish software company that has done a reasonable amount of off-shoring to India. The latest trend is to hire low cost Polish workers and deploy them to customer sites etc.

My own belief is that offshoring should not be done purely on a cost basis. As programing and software development is, in the eyes of management, a structured, mechanical type of discipline their view is that why not move it to a lower cost base and control that developement from your home based managers.

This is not as easy as it sounds, just look at the way outsourced call centres perform. From my experience dealing with call centres outsourced to India in particular is a painful experience. It would seem logical that you can just train the low cost workers on your customer service standards and have the benefits of low cost and the same standard of service. Not true!

Trying to replicate a high quality service, or high quality software development, is not easy to do. No doubt a certain amount of things will end up being done in Poland\India etc but there will always be demand for high quality individuals in the software industry in Ireland.
 
We're having a hard time getting staff, so the industry seems fairly healthy to me.
 
Flax said:
We're having a hard time getting staff, so the industry seems fairly healthy to me.
Click to expand...
Is it that you're having a hard time getting CVs in? Or people to interview? Or people to accept jobs when offered?
 
Boogeyman, I think you are right to be cautious. If you are getting messages from within where you work that your branch of the IT industry is likely to suffer in a US downturn, then it is probable that your contract will be under pressure. At the very least, your rates may be under pressure.

IT investment by companies is called investment for good reason. High level management in companies can easily decide to slash IT budgets, cope with existing systems and cancel major projects. It happens in every recession. A recession doesn't happen over-night, but drip-drips through. Last quarter 2007 GDP growth in Ireland has been revised down to 0% and the first quarter 2008 was negative (or so I have read).

If you are not working in products for the domestic sector, then you have to look at where the sector you are working for is heading.
 
I'm working in IT Project Management myself and I definitely think things are going to get a lot tighter. Inspite of the value IT adds to a business it is more often than not seen as a cost rather than an investment and for this reason I'm seeing and hearing of companies being very very cautious about what they spend their money on until they see how this whole downturn plays out, if it doesn't look like it'll improve within the next year then expect it to get a LOT worse.

Cheery stuff on a Monday morning!! That having been said it is difficult to find good staff, particularly in the areas of Project Management and Test Management which are areas pretty resilient to outsourcing. Overall I'd say expect things to get worse but don't worry too much, also be sure and make sure you keep your skills/certifications up to date or expand on them because if the pressure for jobs comes on you want to make sure you're ahead of the crowd.
 
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