News

Back On The Chain Gang

Blockchain is having an impact on the jobs market. Fiona Alston looks at how you can immerse yourself in the developing technology and how staying one step ahead of the curve could land you among the stars.

Enough speculation, we want to know if the jobs market is feeling the impact of blockchain yet. We’re fed up waiting on the platform. “It’s one of the topical things out there, everyone’s talking about it,” said Jason McNeill, sales director at Vantage Resources. “What does it actually mean to the employment market? Is it actually converting into jobs and creating employment opportunities? And the answer is yes, it is. There has been a significant increase since 2017, we have seen that. The reality is now that there are jobs in the Irish marketplace. 

2020: TIME TO BUY OR BUILD A TALENT POOL?

There are two ways for companies to fill their skills gap: train up existing employees or recruit new talent. Ian Campbell explores both routes with a specialist recruitment company and an IT training organisation. 

Like most developed countries, Ireland suffers a skills shortage when it comes to IT, which is a big challenge for an economy that is more dependent on foreign direct investment than most. Many tech multinationals have set up their Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters here and rely on local tech talent to grow and innovate. The skills shortage problem is not going away, but may be slightly relieved by market forces.Tech recruitment specialist Vantage Resources reports a slowing down in demand in 2019, due in part to the protracted uncertainty around Brexit, now fuelled by fears of a global recession in 2020. “There’s a reluctance to commit to major project pieces and big spends. Everything is more short term and that’s impacted recruitment,” said Sam Reilly, key accounts manager at the company.

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We Need Somebody With A Human Touch

Everybody needs security, reports Fiona Alston, as we look at why leaderships skills are becoming more brain than brawn and how women’s instincts are suited to the world of cyber security. 

Recognising that soft skills are what is needed in the changing pace of office structure is leading to a whole new skills gap of its own. “There is a skills gap, no doubt about it. Us, at Vantage, we use that to our advantage in that we excel in these markets, we are good at finding people,” said Jason McNeill, sales director, Vantage Resources. “If there is a skills gap, we will try to plug it, we will work with our clients. But, you know, in days gone by, the IT department has gone from one that was located in the basement to one that’s now being represented at board level, at chief technology officer (CIO) level.

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Will Shrinking Benefits Still Provide Returns?

Are you curious enough to get involved in a start-up? Fiona Alston reports on the positives of taking the plunge into start-up land and discusses how permanent positions are no longer the be all and end all.

A permanent position used to be the be all and end all in years gone by. If you were offered a contract, not bad — but the hope was to get in and stay in. Well luckily that is not the case nowadays, contracting has become a bit of a thing, and that thing can actually be fairly lucrative if you can get yourself on a daily rate contract. “I suppose the way contracting comes about, when the market is quite buoyant you will get certain projects that have to be delivered. They could be quite large projects where any existing team of permanent members wouldn’t have the capacity to run with so what companies will do is they will take on contractors to kind of plug a gap for six months or 12 months,” said Aoife Conway, Recruitment Team Lead, Vantage Resources.

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Sometimes You Want To Go Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Returning to the workplace can be a daunting experience. Fiona Alston reports on how the workplace has changed, not just for employees, but for companies too.

 Returning to the workplace is never easy, whether it be one month, one year or a ten-year gap, things have moved on, and it can be quite the cause of anxiety to find the right position on the right terms. “I think that companies are looking for ways to find all sorts of talent and returners, it’s just another stream of people that companies are trying to get at and some companies actually even have programmes in place to support returners. There is one called Relaunch your Career run by Mastercard, there is one run by Accenture. There are companies that are focused on trying to get workers back in,” said Sinead Caulfield, service delivery director, Vantage Resources.

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New Year, New Direction

This month’s ICT Skills and Training report explores the possibility of a ‘new year, new you’. Fiona Alston reports on what’s hot in the jobs market, and where you might find yourself reskilling to make a change in 2019.

It's that time of year again: the novelty of the gym membership has expired, the ostentatious activewear has disappeared to the back of the wardrobe and the attempt at a new diet has floundered, but you’ve finally made it through January. The New Year, new you is back to the old you. That is, of course, unless you are getting itchy feet and looking for perhaps a more realistic challenge. This month, we are taking a look at the hot areas to move to, where the demand is and how to get there. “After Christmas seems to be the time where people are geared up to make the move,” said Jason McNeill, Sales Director at Vantage Resources. “You also see it in the summer time, people have their summer holidays and then decide to make the move. There just seems to be a slight spike during those times.

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Look For The Hero Within

Is there a short-term solution to a long-term problem? Fiona Alston discovers that the answer we’ve been looking for might have been sitting in plain sight all along.

With the government’s initiative on ICT skills education being unveiled last month, it still leaves the issue to be dealt with in the short term. “People ask: ‘how come you let it get to this, what’s happening?’ Nobody predicted this pace of digital change, Ireland’s digital transformation — it’s just the pace of it, it’s increasing all of the time,” said Jason McNeill, sales director at Vantage Resources. “Ireland has been so successful, the IDA has been so successful in selling Ireland and bringing all the companies here, and those companies coming here, they don’t want to hear we can’t get talent, it’s just not an option for them. 

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