Preliminary results from a DCU survey indicate that job vacancies in the I.T. sector have almost doubled in the past two years. Most of these positions are advertised on the World Wide Web, where the number of advertisements in the I.T. sector are now in excess of 22,800, compared to 16,300 in January 2007 and 11,000 in January 2006.

The table below shows the steady growth in posts being advertised and the estimated actual job vacancies which these represent. The differences between the two figures are due to some jobs being advertised more than once, and some advertisements being for multiple jobs.

	May 05	Jan 06	May 06	Jan 07	May 07	Mar 08
I.T. job advertisements	9,500+	10,896+	13,468+	16,310+	21,657+	22,809+
I.T. job vacancies(est.)	8,100	9,300	11,400	13,900	17,400	18,100

The jobs involved cover a very wide range, including web development, programming, systems analysis, business analysis, database management, security, and data processing management. Many of these positions normally require third level qualifications at undergraduate or post-graduate levels.

According to Professor Michael Ryan, the vacancies are partly due to the strong underling growth in the use of computing in all aspects of economic and social activity, and partly due to the decline in the numbers graduating from computing courses. 'According to what I hear from industry, most new hires in the software sector in Dublin are now from abroad, as suitably qualified Irish people are not available. A similar situation exists on the research scene, where there is an increasing dependence on research students from abroad for the same reason.'

Niall Kelly, Director of ComputerJobs.ie, has also noted the trends in the industry, commenting: "With the explosive growth in how the internet is changing the way business is conducted for many industries, IT will continue to reinvent itself to meet this demand. The IT grads of 2008, with relevant ICT experience, will be on salaries of between 35-45K within their first few years of graduation"

Although now very much in the past, the downturn associated with the dot-com collapse of 2001-02 still seems to dominate the attitude of many young people and their advisors to careers in computing.

According to Prof. Ryan, the situation is not helped by the failure to provide any introduction to the study of computing at second level. 'We need to understand that computing and its associated software and managerial activities are here to stay, that much of our future economic development will depend upon them, and educate accordingly. In reality, things are only starting. Unfortunately, just as these major opportunities are opening up, we seem determined to look the other way. It seems certain that well over 50% of higher level I.T. jobs in Ireland in the years ahead will be filled by people from abroad.'

A more detailed analysis of the job vacancies is currently under way at DCU, with results expected in May.

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