Navigating the IT skills shortage

Mass digitalisation of organisations in recent years has caused the value of IT teams to skyrocket. However, the number of available potential new hires with the required skill sets to fill these positions is minimal.

IT roles consistently sit at the top of skills shortage lists, with cybersecurity engineers holding the number one spot, according to specialist recruitment firm Hays. With no immediate relief in sight, the Tech Council of Australia predicts Australia will need one million workers in tech jobs by 2025 — meaning around 260,000 additional workers will be needed to cover the shortfall.

In November last year, the Australian Government announced $18.5m in funding for almost 30 short microcredential courses (covered largely by government grants), in the hope to address the shortage. Several of these courses focus specifically on IT-related skills such as IT and cloud fundamentals, cybersecurity foundations, and infonet security. The Microcredentials Pilot in Higher Education scheme was launched by Minister for Education Jason Clare, who said, “Microcredentials can help Australians upskill and reskill to prepare for the jobs of the future.”

While long-term planning is necessary to fill the future industry knowledge gap, there is already a clear lack of skilled IT professionals in Australia. Organisations also need to implement immediate action to help address their IT skills shortage and alleviate pressures on their current IT staff.

Undermanned and overworked

The move to hybrid work in recent years required frantic business investment in a wide range of tech tools. This — along with dispersed and disparate staff working off many different devices and networks — has led to IT teams managing a larger suite of technology, increasing workloads, pressures, complexities and costs. Research from GoTo’s Frost and Sullivan IT Priorities 2023 report found 52% of Australian organisations experienced an IT workload increase in the last year. When accompanied by understaffing, this creates an unhealthy working environment.

When IT teams are understaffed, not all tasks can be actioned to the highest standard, leading to increased cyber threat vulnerability, longer downtime and disruption, and a lessened customer experience. It also limits the growth and innovation of businesses — Gartner found 64% of IT executives believe the tech talent shortage is the barrier keeping them from adopting emerging technologies. The upshot is that IT teams are expected to produce more results with fewer team members.

Many organisations are looking to reduce costs and slow hirings to help combat current economic conditions. At the same time, many leaders are focused on reducing team workloads and pressures while streamlining operations. When hiring more IT workers isn’t an option, investing in the right solutions becomes pivotal to creating a more productive environment. A consolidated all-in-one technology solution provides teams with the necessary applications and functions needed to manage the organisation on a singular, simple interface. It creates more efficient output from IT teams, and by utilising cloud communications, meetings, messaging, remote access and support, device management and ticketing through one vendor, organisations can also save on licensing and additional costs, presenting a greater ROI. Furthermore, organisations can look to harness emerging technologies like artificial intelligence to help IT teams during the skills shortage.

AI to drive upskilling and productivity

New AI technologies present a significant opportunity to improve efficiency. AI can alleviate staff workloads by automating mundane or time-consuming administrative tasks, while also reducing errors made by overburdened IT teams. AI can be used as part of the IT support stack to quickly generate programming scripts for device management or to automate repetitive tasks like resetting passwords, restarting machines or backing up files. This allows IT teams to focus on higher-priority tasks that require unique and critical thinking.

AI also presents the opportunity to upskill employees, especially for smaller teams or those with limited resources. IT workers without the skills to write complex or specific scripts can generate the commands they need using AI, effectively teaching themselves and gaining valuable new skills in the process. Using AI to monitor and trigger alerts when network traffic reaches a set limit means teams can learn the patterns of traffic and signs to watch for when they may need to spin up additional resources or to handle higher-than-usual loads.

Looking ahead, IT professionals and business leaders will continue to face mounting pressures as organisations accelerate digital transformation. Addressing the rising IT skills shortage needs effective consultation with IT leaders, allowing implementation of the right solutions to increase productivity and efficiency. At the end of the day, it’s about ensuring your organisation is efficient, resilient, secure, and poised for growth and transformation.

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