IT companies report skilled staff shortages

Information technology firms are on the hunt for new recruits but say skilled staff are thin on the ground.

Eighty-three per cent of 101 respondents to a survey by industry group NZICT say difficulties hiring qualified and experienced staff are having a medium to major effect on their businesses.

More than half of 90 companies surveyed said they planned to hire technical staff.

Wellington IT firm Codec managing director Sean Wilson said his firm often struggled to find experienced business analysts and architects for consultancy work. More generic roles were easy to fill.

Fujitsu managing director Stuart Stitt said finding quality staff was always difficult. Fujitsu had recently hired 40 staff to provide desktop support services and although the firm had received many applications, the process still took four months, he said. "If you're after a more specialist person then again, that's more difficult."

Ben Pearson, director of recruitment firm Beyond Recruitment, said there was a "lower quality candidate pool" in the IT jobs market because more skilled and experienced workers had opted to stay in their jobs and ride out the recession.