THE MARKET FOR IT PROFESSIONALS
For decades, the IT market demand has exceeded the supply of qualified professionals. In addition to a significant worsening of knowledge shortages, professionals with real skills and experience have in many cases become unavailable to many market players in recent years. One of the key points for the development of companies is IT development, which means that if this area is not covered, it is not possible for the company to move forward. In recent years, companies have been competing intensively for the best employees, investing considerable energy and money in restructuring their motivation systems. Companies offering modern, trendy, internationally unique developments are over-subscribed even on the IT specialist side, while larger companies in more traditional areas are facing serious challenges. One of the main reasons for this is generational change, as young people entering the labour market in the last 10-15 years tend to focus on developing their professional skills quickly, self-fulfilment, and respect for their freedom, needs which startups can provide. This is one of the reasons why outsourcing and body-leasing services commonplace in the IT sector are gaining ground, as they enable companies to obtain quality professionals that they would have no chance of attracting as employees.
COVID-19’S EFFECTS ON THE IT MARKET
Trends that started decades ago have been accelerated by the pandemic. The importance of managing opportunities for the new generations, home-office, more freedom, and work-life balance, have become much more important, and the already high expectations of IT professionals will be an even bigger challenge for companies that want to grow. Cost efficiency and the need to retain the best IT professionals have already led to a number of cases where the process of giving these employees more time off has been initiated. In many cases, they have become ‘freelancers’ who are contracted to the company. They are therefore given a steady flow of work, which they can often carry out at a fraction of normal working hours, and can sell their spare capacity at their discretion. One of the effects of the pandemic on the global labour market is that people have reassessed their lives, placing a higher priority on their private lives and true professional satisfaction. Where possible, the genuine enjoyment of work has come to occupy a high ranking among decision-making priorities. IT is clearly one of those sectors where workers can afford to be selective about the job opportunities available to them, where tying their entire professional capacity to a particular employer is no longer an option. Because of the pandemic, access to real professionals in shortage areas will be exclusively through external assignments, except in some very trendy corporate environments offering diverse projects and excellent professional development opportunities.