Businesses are still hungry for Tech Skills

With layoffs grabbing the headlines in recent weeks, these are worrying times for tech workers. However, there are still excellent permanent and contract opportunities for good candidates, says Eolas Recruitment.

For some employers, greater availability of talent in the current market presents an opportunity to strengthen their permanent tech resources. It also makes it easier to bring on board interim workers or contractors for urgent or specialised projects.

Currently, our IT recruiters at Eolas Recruitment are working with employers across the economy to identify, screen and select candidates for both permanent and contract technical and specialist roles.

From a candidate’s perspective, skills in areas like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, software development, project management and cloud technologies are very much in demand.

Cybersecurity

Across all sectors, awareness of the potential cost and disruption caused by cybercrime has been growing. Security is very much front of mind for business owners, not least because insurers may be reluctant to provide cover for companies that do not take the necessary steps to strengthen their cyber defences.

This is contributing to strong demand for candidates with cybersecurity experience. Roles range from penetration testers and information security officers to forensic analysts, data management experts, application security engineers and security architects.

At the most senior levels, candidates need to be able to provide thought leadership on cyber risk and demonstrate the ability to develop and implement strategies to continuously improve security in a rapidly expanding threat landscape.

Soft skills are crucial as leaders must be able to partner not just with the technical teams who design, build, test and deploy security solutions, but also, importantly, with colleagues across the business as well as with relevant third parties.

For team members, keeping up to date with emerging threats, security technologies, and evolving data and privacy legislation is crucial, particularly for employees who want to move up from entry level into mid and senior level roles.

At entry level, employees are typically involved in helping identify vulnerabilities, dealing with security incidents and working with colleagues to strengthen their employer’s cyber defences. The minimum qualification for entry level roles is generally a third level qualification in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, Mathematics or a related discipline.

AI/Machine learning

While ChatGPT recently triggered a flood of general interest in both the potential and the risks associated with artificial intelligence, AI and machine learning business applications have been on the increase for some time.

In the financial services sector, AI and ML are already used to enhance processes around fraud detection, credit risk assessment and lending decision making. In medicine and healthcare, they underpin innovation in areas like robotic surgery and virtual nursing.

In various other sectors—from aviation to insurance, life sciences, education, marketing, retail, energy and telecoms—demand is growing for candidates with AI and ML expertise.

Requirements for candidates typically include things like knowledge of search technologies, data modelling, programming, analytics, natural language processing, neural networks and platform experience/skills.

For examples of current roles, check out our Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning vacancies.

Cloud

In the last few years, more and more businesses have also embraced cloud technologies, leading to strong competition for tech workers with cloud experience, particularly those with a track record of developing cloud applications and/or migrating applications to the cloud. There are also data privacy, security and compliance-related roles for suitably qualified candidates. Employers are particularly interested in workers with problem solving and people management skills.

Quantum Computing

While quantum computing has a way to go before it becomes mainstream, in time it is expected to transform industries like healthcare, pharmaceuticals and financial services where it has the potential to exponentially accelerate progress in areas like illness diagnosis, drug discovery and financial risk modelling.

Initially, quantum careers were mostly confined to academic research but as universities increasingly collaborate with industry this is beginning to create opportunities for developers and tech workers with specialised skills in areas like engineering, machine learning, data science and quantum algorithms.

Robotics

Practical applications for robotics have also been in the news in recent times. From manufacturing and aerospace to healthcare, hospitality and e-commerce, robotics are being used to streamline processes, improve safety, cut costs and enhance customer satisfaction.

Successful innovation in this area requires a strong understanding of consumer and business needs. Careers in robotics and automation typically look for candidates with proven problem-solving and change management skills as well as knowledge of robotics and automation solutions, and experience with Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), and Human Machine Interfaces (HMI).

Soft skills and financial acumen are also important as projects require the ability to understand requirements and work closely with colleagues to specify, develop and design successful, cost-effective robotic applications.

A good starting point for candidates interested in advancing their career in any of areas discussed in this article is to keep an eye on Eolas Recruitment’s online tech job listings. If you have relevant tech skills and experience, we’d love to hear from you.