Korn Ferry Launches IT Services Solution to Deliver a Digital Ready Workforce to Irish Business

Korn Ferry has launched IT Services, an innovative solution to the growing global tech talent crisis and ‘broken’ recruitment model.

The service, which will be spearheaded from the company’s Dublin office, will see Korn Ferry working with tech and non-tech companies to deliver a sustainable pipeline of talent to their organisations, equipped with the specific technology skills they require.

IT Services will augment Korn Ferry’s recruitment offering, by up-skilling internal talent through dedicated professional development programmes. This will equip them with the skills required by their employer, along with training and developing the largely untapped back-to-work and high-potential career changer markets.

Alistair Copeland, Vice President of IT Services at Korn Ferry, comments, “Digital transformation is as much about people as the technology organisations utilise. IT Services from Korn Ferry offers businesses an innovative and sustainable way to develop a digital-ready workforce that meets the demands of tomorrow, as well as today.”

Broken Resourcing Model

In Ireland, 18,000 technology jobs were created in 2018; far outstripping current supply.

The challenge is by no means isolated to Ireland though. 2018 research from Korn Ferry revealed the global technology talent shortfall will exceed one million by 2020 and a staggering 4.3 million – almost the entire population of the Republic of Ireland – by 2030.

Existing recruitment models, that depend on placing and redeploying existing IT talent, are ill-equipped to address client demands for greater numbers of digital-ready workers.

Equally, third-level education is moving too slowly to satisfy business requirements. In 2017, just 4,468 of all Irish graduates entered a career in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). The time it takes to adopt new technology and integrate it into the syllabus is too lengthy for the pace at which technology is evolving.

Leveraging Korn Ferry’s advisory software solutions, the new offering from the firm will identify internal and external candidates, with the right traits and competencies, from non-tech backgrounds, expanding the size of the talent pool as a direct result.

These individuals are put through deep technical training in the specific technology fields a client requires. In between 12 to 18 weeks, IT Services from Korn Ferry deliver technically qualified IT Talent, placing them within client IT teams. Through continued training and development, they attain industry recognised certificates and cover more relevant content than a typical tertiary degree could hope to achieve, while adding value to the employer from day one.

Initially, IT services will offer Cloud, Data Analytics, Digital, Cyber Security and Software Development resourcing, with plans to expand the offering to other technologies in the coming months.

Copeland continues, “IT resourcing is broken. Everyone is fishing in a very small pond, hoping to lure the same talent. IT Services is recoding talent management, addressing the supply issue head-on, diversifying the talent pool and equipping workers with the exact skills employers want. It’s smart, cost-effective and most importantly, it’s sustainable.”