ICT workforce rises by 50% since 2010, National ICT Workforce Survey 2013 reveals

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Post-domestic developments in post-conflict era and gradual recovery of the global economic situation have created conducive environment for growth of the ICT workforce. As a result, the overall workforce has grown from 50,159 in 2010 to 75,107 in 2013 – a rise of 50% at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4%. The projection figure of 82,854 for 2014 suggests that this momentum is likely to continue in the future also. Respective contributions by four sub sectors to the total workforce 2013 are 40.8% from ICT companies, 47.1% from non-ICT private sector users, 7.8% from Government organisations and 4.2% from BPO companies. The profile of ICT workforce has undergone some changes since the last workforce survey. The programming/ software engineering category still has the highest share among job categories but has reduced to 21% in 2013 from 26% in 2009. However, its share remains as high as 36.7% in ICT companies followed by software quality assurance (16%), jointly occupying more than half of the workforce in ICT companies.

The most important job categories for non-ICT companies in private sector are system and network administration (19.7%), data base administration and development (17.9%) and technical support (15.3%). Female participation of the workforce has improved from 21% in 2009 to 29% in 2013. BPO companies have significantly contributed to improve the gender balance in ICT workforce. The gender composition without BPO companies drops down to 24.8%. In 2013, the share of employees with a degree or above has increased up to 63%, an improvement in the qualifications profile of the ICT workforce. The highest share of graduates is in ICT companies (70%) and in other sub sectors; it remains around 30-35%. Demand for number of graduates in 2014 is 6246. Compared with the demand projection for 2010 in the last survey, this represents a 57% increase, implying a 16.3% of CAGR. The respective shares of demand originated from ICT companies 41.5%, non-ICT companies 38.5%, government institutes 12.1% and BPO companies 7.9%. The survey reported a rise in the total number of graduates supplied from training organisations from 5610 in 2010 to 6611 in 2013. This implies a 5.6% CAGR. The survey further shows that in all sub sectors, Bachelor’s degree has become the standard entry level qualification for recruitment in many job categories. Skills offered by training courses are highly important as they determine the quality of the workforce. According to analysis of skills in demand, system analysis and programming are the top priority skills demanded by employers. Interestingly, this is followed by creative thinking skills and team working which are two soft skills. This shows high value placed by employers on soft skills even above certain core skills. Analysis of skills taught by training courses at different levels suggest that closely similar profiles of essential skills are taught in all types of courses whereas some variation could be identified in the case of complementary skills taught in different courses. Demand and supply projections for 2014 indicate a situation of short supply of graduates. The magnitude of the gap is 458. This can be considered more of a result due to boost in the demand for workforce that due to any factor affecting the growth in supply. A mismatch of skills in demand and supply can be identified in all three categories of skills; core, soft and technical skills. Mismatch implies the existence of less-supplied skills in demand and less-demanded skills in supply. Particularly, high un-met demand from employers for soft skills in job seekers and existing employees deserve special attention. Private sector companies in ICT, non-ICT, and BPO sub sectors offer better salaries than government organisations nearly in all job categories. As far as private sector companies are concerned, comparatively better salaries are offered by ICT companies for all job categories. Private sector companies also offer more contrasting salary hikes for employees with high experience that is more pronounced in the case of demanding job categories. The most demanding job categories, as indicated by higher level of remuneration, vary among different sub sectors.