Time to reconsider a career in IT

THE current landscape of the local information technology (IT) workforce looks dire. The increasing use of IT to augment work has led to a chronic demand for IT skills. The demand for IT skills now exceeds its supply. About 30,000 IT jobs need to be filled by 2020. Many of these job vacancies require IT professionals, including IT technical specialists, with expertise in software development, network and infrastructure management, cybersecurity and data analytics.

This demand-supply imbalance is exacerbated by three factors. One, babyboomers in the IT profession are retiring.

Two, Singaporean youths studying IT in our institutes of higher learning (IHL) appear reluctant to consider IT as a career. A study of over 900 IT students in local IHLs found that three in 10 students received negative comments and discouragement from entering the IT profession. These comments and discouragement typically come from family and friends. Another study of over 1,000 local IT students points to an additional source of hesitancy to join the IT workforce - work-life conflict. Local IT students hold the view that there are high levels of work-life conflict in IT jobs. The negative perceptions of an IT career may be the reason why only an estimated half of all polytechnic IT students polled intend to pursue an IT career, after taking into account those who will go on to further their studies. Many polytechnic IT students are likely to go on to pursue a non-IT course of study in a university.