Skilled and experienced people in ICT, engineering, healthcare, finance and customer care (including technical support) are in demand, according to the 2011 National Skills Bulletin, released today.
The report published by The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) shows that the rate of deterioration in the labour market during 2010 was slower than in 2009.
Although in general, the supply of labour is greater than demand, in some areas shortages continue to exist. They are small in terms of the number of persons required, unlikely to be greater than several hundred, and confined to individuals with high-level skills, experience and/or niche area expertise, the report stated.
Areas where shortages have been identified include ICT (senior software developers, network engineers, project managers), engineering (product development in pharmaceuticals), healthcare, sales, transport (international supply chain managers), science (medical scientists) and finance (risk and regulatory experts).
Una Halligan, chairperson, EGFSN, said it was crucial that education and training providers continuously ensure their programmes are aligned with the future skills needs of enterprise.
“In this regard, initiatives such as Springboard, which provides opportunities for people who are currently unemployed to gain skills in areas of current or future job opportunities, are very welcome. Enterprises are also playing a valuable role in providing work experience through the recently announced National Internship Scheme, JobBridge.”
Photo: Minister for Training and Skills Ciarán Cannon, TD, and Una Halligan, chairperson, EGFSN
