As we’re about to enter a new decade, Hays’ James Milligan explores his predictions for the hottest tech jobs of 2020.
The number of tech roles available in Ireland continues to outstrip the number of skilled professionals here, and this talent shortage looks set to endure into 2020.
According to the Hays Ireland Salary & Recruiting Trends 2020 report, the vast majority (92pc) of Irish employers overall have experienced skills shortages in the past 12 months, and 70pc state that competition for roles and job opportunities is the main cause of these shortages.
With regards to the tech industry specifically, established enterprises are having to compete with more agile scale-ups for talent, and salaries are on the rise. There has been a 2pc average salary increase across technology roles, largely a result of the competition between contract and permanent roles in the sector.
Demand for digital skills looks set to continue in the areas of development, data science and cybersecurity, and employers will need to continue to look beyond their traditional talent pools, and consider recruiting hobbyists or sourcing from modern apprenticeship projects.
For employees, the upshot of this demand for talent is that if you work in an area where candidates are in especially short supply, you’ll be in a position to choose from a range of roles with competitive pay rises. In light of this, we’ve taken a look at which roles have seen the greatest salary increases, and will likely be in the greatest demand as we head into 2020.
Top 10 most in-demand tech roles for 2020
- BI analyst
- DevOps engineer
- Software engineering lead
- Software developer
- Web developer
- Security engineer
- Cloud engineer
- Data scientist
- Cloud architect
- Scrum master
If your role isn’t on this list, it may be worth using the New Year as an opportunity to revise your skills portfolio and have a think about where you want your career to go. A sideways move or an upskilling opportunity may be what you need for a salary boost.
Exactly what skills are employers looking for?
The increasing proliferation of digital transformation and automation projects in the world of work at large is driving the need among Irish employers generally for operations skills (38pc) and managerial skills (32pc).
In tech specifically, soft skills such as communication, problem-solving and critical thinking are all in high demand, reflecting the evolution of technology as a function as it moves from simply offering support to being a core area of the business, with the need to work across multiple departments in a wider strategic capacity.
Do you know what you’re worth?
Whether you are planning to move on or remain in your current role, it is vital to know whether you could earn more in line with regional and national averages and your own skillsets and experience.
Once you have this knowledge to hand, you can make the case for a pay increase, or build on those existing skills that are most in demand and would command the highest salary.
James Milligan is a director of UK, Ireland and EMEA at Hays.
