Line of Business
Canadian IT jobs market heats up as employers prepare to meet talent crunch
By all indications, the IT jobs market is sizzling. Around 89,000 new IT jobs are expected to crop up over the next three to five years with not enough people to fill them. Demand for Web development skills in Java, Oracle, SQL Server and .Net Framework has grown by as much as 30 per cent over the last 12 months. And the mad rush to get on the Web 2.0 bandwagon is making .Net developers fresh out of school disappear like taxis on a rainy day.5/27/2008 6:00:00 AM By: Nestor E. Arellano
Canadian employers are being squeezed by a tech talent crunch...from both sides.
Just as a mad rush to get on the Web 2.0 bandwagon is making .Net developers fresh out of school disappear like taxis on a rainy day, the impending retirement of baby boomers is heralding a drought in the pool of programmers skilled in legacy language such as COBOL.
And this is happening at a time when mainframe installation projects are growing by at least five per cent each year.
CIO's are under a lot of stress to fill these positions but there appears to be little relief in sight, according to technology experts and hiring specialists.
Demand for Web development skills in Java, Oracle, SQL Server and .Net Framework has actually grown by as much as 30 per cent over the last 12 months estimates Patrick Sullivan, CEO of Workopolis.com, a Canadian job search firm.
.Net skills are particularly in high demand because the software is a key component of the ubiquitous Microsoft Windows operating system used by most new Windows-based Web applications
"Company officials are constantly telling us they need to be swift in making the right offer to a potential candidate or they lose that person very quickly to another employer," said Sullivan.
Unfortunately, Canadian universities and tech schools are unable to feed the demand. "Sometime after the tech-bust of 2000, a lot of parents dissuaded their kids from taking IT courses."
Indeed many industry insiders have complained that IT courses need a makeover to make them attractive to students again.
This is an urgently required to fill an estimated 89,000 new jobs expected to crop up over the net three to five years.
The speed in the pace of Web 2.0 technology adoption is a big factor in the rising demand for Web application and infrastructure development talent, according to Sullivan.
For instance, in a single day last week, no less than 279 positions for project managers, 159 spots for systems administrators, 221 openings for systems analysts and 192 for quality assurance professionals were listed on Workopolis.com, he said.
People with skills in Websphere, SAP, Tivoli and Citrix have also become difficult to find as local demand for IT professionals jumped by at least 18 per cent last year over 2006, according to a report from Sapphire Technologies Canada, a Toronto-based IT staffing company.
"Competition for skilled staff has become very stiff and many SMBs are finding it hard to keep up with larger companies that have more financial resources," said John Reid, president and co-chair of the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA).
Page Navigation 1) .Net skills are particularly in high demand – Page 12) Around 89,000 new jobs are expected to crop up over the net three to five years. – Page 2
3) A big challenge facing companies is how to manage legacy talent. – Page 3
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