IT talent integral to technology firms

13:20 18th July 2008

IT talent acquisition has been identified as the third most important issue for technology firms, according to a new survey.

Gartner's 2008 global chief information officer (CIO) survey highlighted the concern amongst top IT professionals about the current shortage of skilled IT staff, and emphasised the need for top-level employees to take an active role in recruitment.

This skill shortage has been attributed to the post dot com downturn, when the number of students enrolling for IT degree courses decreased, as would be IT-undergraduates realised that they were unlikely to become instant millionaires.

Ade McCormack, writing for computing.co.uk, insisted that attracting and retaining IT workers requires an industry rethink.

He said: "In my experience many business leaders do not understand how critical IT is to the success of their business.

"They pay little attention to their IT functions and prefer to treat technology as a black box managed by the CIO or financial director."

Earlier this week, a survey revealed that students IT career prospects are being reduced - because government education budgets fall short of preparing students for the industry.

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