Future tech jobs
Image: dotshock/Shutterstock

What are the sci-tech jobs of the future?

21 Oct 2016

With roles in sci-tech and fintech on the rise, we spoke to some of the sector’s top companies about the future for jobs in the industry.

The demand for candidates in tech roles has been increasing drastically over the last number of years. From sci-tech and biopharma companies to cybersecurity and fintech industries, the technology area is expanding rapidly and the need for skilled and experienced candidates has never been greater.

At the autumn Career Zoo event, we spoke to several companies about the future of jobs in the sci-tech industry and what roles they expect to flourish over the next few years.

David Roche, director of financial services, Pramerica

 David Roche director of financial services, Pramerica

Image: Connor McKenna

“The whole area of financial services is growing fast and furiously. The roles that will be coming out of that will be in the most innovative technologies, such as blockchain and Ethereum, so we’ll be looking for people with experience in that particular area.”

Linda Beckett, IT development team manager, AIB

Linda Beckett, IT Development Team Manager AIB

Image: Luke Maxwell

“The jobs of the next 20 years haven’t been invented yet. The level of automation is going to be second to none and we’re heavily investing in it. We all talk about agile and lean and getting quicker faster and better. The only way to get there is to learn and educate.”

Richard Harris, director of service delivery and investigations, FireEye

Richard Harris, Director of Service Delivery and Investigations FireEye

Image: Connor McKenna

“There’s a huge demand for people in [cybersecurity]. For three and a half years, we’ve never stopped hiring. But the important thing for us is trying to find the right skills. So in the next 12 to 18 months, you’re going to see a big demand for security analyst roles.”

Leo McAdams, divisional manager for ICT, Enterprise Ireland

Leo McAdams, divisional manager for ICT, Enterprise Ireland

Image: Luke Maxwell

“When we look ahead at the new jobs, we have to look at the emerging sectors. They include IoT [internet of things], fintech and blockchain. Some of the companies that already exist in these areas will be the ones that will be recruiting hundreds of jobs over the next number of years.”

Joe Morgan, director of systems development, Pramerica

Joe Morgan, Director, Systems Development Pramerica

Image: Connor McKenna

“The skill set we’re really looking for is someone who can understand and support large corporate entities that really don’t have a lot of understanding today, in terms of how to consume those public services from cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.”

Linda Doyle, director, Connect

inda Doyle, director CONNECT

Image: Connor McKenna

“I think there are going to be millions of jobs in the data science area, but not necessarily where you think they might be. If you look at places like Dublin City Council, politics, or anything to do with the I0T, I think you’re going to have data scientists all over the place.”

Mairead Looby, director, manufacturing science and technology, BMS

Mairead Looby, Director, Manufacturing Science & Technology BMS

Image: Luke Maxwell

“There’s been about €8bn invested in biopharmaceuticals over the last few years, so there’ll be a huge amount of opportunity for scientists and engineers.”

Chris Papathanasiou, director, DarkMatter

Image: Conor McKenna

Image: Connor McKenna

“There’s regions in the world like the UAE, where a lot of investment is happening right now in cybersecurity. As a UAE company, we’re very keen on speaking to candidates with cybersecurity experience.”

David Tighe, head of innovation, Bank of Ireland

David Tighe, Head of Innovation BoI

Image: Connor McKenna

“Jobs in the future are going to look very different from what they do today; I don’t think we’ve even seen some of the jobs that are going to exist in the next ten years. But, even though there are new technologies and ways of thinking, there are still going to be core skill sets…required that exist today.”

Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

Loading now, one moment please! Loading