CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SHARE Inc., the world’s largest association of corporate users of mainframe and other related technologies, partnered with IBM and Unisphere Research, a division of Information Technology Inc., to release ‘Closing the IT Skills Gap,’ a study that examines specific IT skills in enterprise programming languages and mainframe administration, along with business skills such as problem-solving and communications abilities.
Employers from the nearly 400 SHARE Member companies and subscribers to Database Trends and Applications overwhelmingly agree that colleges and universities need to provide their students with the essential skills required to run IT departments, yet only eight percent of hiring managers would rate IT graduates hired as “well trained, ready to go.”
Additionally, nearly four out of 10 respondents report that their IT hires are not sufficiently prepared to perform jobs within their companies, and another 44 percent say, at a minimum, that there are noticeable gaps in their skills.
This doesn’t stop organizations from hiring professionals with little, if any previous experience. The survey found that nearly half of companies responding to the survey hire new IT employees straight out of school. Two-thirds of organizations do require at least some college intern experience among their hires.
The report indicates that organizations are ready to hire, with employers reporting they are seeking the following skills from their educational institutions:
- 77 percent want schools to provide programming skills
- 82 percent seek database skills
- 76 percent would like schools to provide analysis and architectural skills
- 80 percent seek problem solving and technical skills
One-third of companies responding to the survey are seeking professionals and managers that can bridge the divides between IT departments and business leaders. Project management, analytics/business intelligence and enterprise architecture skills are in demand by more than half of the companies surveyed.
The survey illustrates that employers in recruitment are hiring in these disciplines:
- 59 percent of respondents indicate that they are either currently hiring or planning to hire programmers and developers in the coming months
- 43 percent are hiring systems programmers and systems analysts
- 50 percent are hiring database professionals
- 36 percent are hiring analysts and architects
- 27 percent seek supplication management talent
An Executive Summary of the “Closing the IT Skills Gap: 2011 SHARE Report for Guiding University and College IT Agendas” can be found here: http://www.share.org/AboutSHARE/SHAREResearch/tabid/69/Default.aspx.
About SHARE
SHARE is an independent, volunteer-run association providing IBM customers with user-focused education, professional networking and a forum to influence the information technology industry. Since 1955, SHARE has enabled IT professionals to achieve business results through a combination of credible, relevant programs and peer opportunities. SHARE currently counts more than 2,100 organizations among its active member ranks.
About Unisphere Research
Unisphere Research, A Division of Information Today, Inc., conducts proprietary, custom research projects in conjunction with leading data management and IT user groups, as well as with other leading industry communities. Unisphere has pioneered user group-based research and has completed over 80 research projects over the past five years covering a range of topic areas including business intelligence, data security, data growth, data integration, virtualization, compliance, IT automation and open source technologies. For further information, contact tom@dbta.com or visit http://www.dbta.com/About_Us.