Job creation in the cloud

Cloud computing is a hot topic at the moment. The media suggest it will be integral to the whole IT industry in the future but what does this mean for job creation in Ireland?

Over the last few months I’ve read a number of articles and reports and attended a number of industry events on cloud computing. Since I recruit in the IT sector, I want to know – How many jobs will cloud computing create in Ireland? What type of jobs? And how do we train our current and future workforce for them?

Globally, cloud computing is still in its infancy.  We have cloud based organisations and talent based in Ireland and there is an opportunity for us to be global leaders in the cloud. The recent Goodbody report, concludes that by 2014 cloud computing sales by Irish firms could reach €9.5 billion per annum and provide 8,600 jobs as current IT activities migrate to the cloud, with a further 2,000 jobs being created in SME’s in the supply chain.

Alan Cooney from EMC recently spoke on their company’s journey into the private cloud. Alan shared his view on the roles that will still be important as we immerse ourselves into the cloud, these include: Systems, Storage, Backup and Recovery, Data Center Networks and Security. However there will be a large number of new positions to serve the Virtual Infrastructure Management and Virtual Infrastructure Architecture areas, these will include: Cloud Architect, Cloud Administrator, Capacity Planner and IT Automation Engineer.

So, in the next three years over 8,000 jobs will be created, including roles that don’t even exist at the moment. How do we make sure that we have the people to fill these new roles? We have over 440,000 people on the live register, many of whom are educated to degree level, but are out of work due to the downturn in their chosen sector. What about a government initiative to re-train out-of-work engineers and other professionals for IT jobs?

 I recently heard a pre-dinner speech from Gerard Kilcommins, President of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland which summed up how the future generation should be thinking- “It is all about education and encouraging the next generation to pursue degrees that lead in to the jobs of the future and in turn give Ireland a future in this exciting area.”

Equally important is the upskilling of the current IT professionals. Are they considering how they will transition their experience and training to enhance their own potential in this evolving process? They would need to, or they may get left behind.

Over 500 jobs for French people in Ireland

Our European neighbours have a strong advantage over us in our own job market when it comes to certain types of roles, as many of them have been bilingual or even multilingual from a very young age.

So why is it that more of these talented language speakers aren’t flying over to take advantage of the fantastic opportunities that are available to them here with multinationals like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Pfizer and JP Morgan and many many more?

We’ve talked to some of these people and it has become apparent that many of them don’t know a huge amount about Ireland as a place to live and work. In order to rectify this and fill some roles for our multinational clients, Hays have embarked on a multilingual recruitment campaign that has taken us to Holland, Germany and Sweden so far and will see us travel to France and other European countries over the coming months.

Our most recent stop, early last month, was a visit our Swedish office in Stockholm with one of the world’s leading technology solutions providers, to interview some talented Swedish professionals who expressed an interest in working in Ireland.

The event was a great success and we filled some roles that our client had been struggling with for quite some time. It gave us a thorough understanding of the candidate market over there and what these professionals want from a career. Speaking to our colleagues in Hays Sweden, we were able to re-write some of the job specifications so they more clearly outlined that exact specifications of the job…as we learned that Swedes are extremely detail orientated. We filled 10 out of the 30 vacancies that day and applications for the remaining roles are still coming in on the back of it. Our database of Swedish candidates is growing and growing!

Next stop, Paris. There are over 500 live jobs for French speakers in Ireland. Luckily enough, there are considerably more French people already living in Ireland but efforts still need to be made to attract professionals that have the specific skills required. Bilingual Sales, Marketing, Accounting and IT professionals are hugely in demand.

We are hosting a career event there on the 25^th of May to interview suitable candidates for a number of roles. We are particularly interested in hearing from accountants, online marketers, account managers, business development executives and people with customer or IT support experience.

What people might not know also is that many of these organisations will provide generous relocation packages to get the right person for the job. The roles we’re recruiting for include Technical Support Executives, Customer Service Representatives, Inside Sales Agents, Receivables Management Analysts, Actuaries, Online Marketing Mangers and Accountant Assistants. Plus there's loads more on our dedicated multilingual recruitment website workliveireland.com.

We’re very excited about meeting some French candidates looking to make an exciting career move. If you know anyone who might be interested, please direct them to our event page for more info! Our next blog will provide an update on how the event went. Come back early in June if you’re interested in the results.