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ICTA Chairman Prof. Rohan Samarajiva hands over the National IT-BPM Workforce Survey 2019 to Digital Infrastructure and Information Technology Minister Ajith. P. Perera. ICTA Senior Consultant Indika De Zoysa looks on - Pic by Upul Abayasekara
By Maleesha Sulthanagoda
Although the number of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) graduates supplied by universities falls short from that required to meet the annual demand by industry stakeholders, it was revealed at the launch of the National IT-BPM Workforce Survey 2019 that the ICT sector of the country had shown the potential to uplift the national economy by attracting investment, earning foreign exchange, creating employment, and increasing productivity by laying the groundwork towards achieving a workforce of 200,000 by 2022.
Minister of Digital Infrastructure, and Information Technology Ajith Perera attending the event said that workforce survey was instrumental in finding strengths and weaknesses of the ICT sector, expanding on the fact that there was a severe lack of ICT graduates to fulfil the demand from the industry
“The survey indicates that the demand-supply gap is widening, and 70.2% of the total demand is by ICT companies. This has been identified as the major issue moving forward and stakeholders have a huge role to play in closing up this gap. In order to complete this, we must widen ICT education opportunities, encourage ICT studies to students earlier than we are doing currently, increase the number of ICT graduates from State and non-State universities, and we should also enhance the skills of non-graduates,” he added.
The survey, which covers ICT companies, BPM companies, non-ICT companies, State organisations and training institutions, focuses on gaining insight into the strength of the workforce, gender composition, demand-supply gap, skill gap and the overall supply of the ICT workforce in Sri Lanka.
The Minister also acknowledged that the survey was destined to positively upend the ICT industry with its informative and revealing data.
“The IT-BPM workforce survey will bring about a drastic change in ICT and BPM sectors to identify, and tackle issues to be addressed complementing gender equality, ensuring suitable personnel to fill in vacant positions and strengthening the ICT sector. Apart from that, such surveys are a prerequisite in moving forward to build a substantial workforce.”
The Minister also noted that the ICT sector had become one of the major stakeholders in the Sri Lankan economy through its contributions to the export market.
“The reports from the Central Bank reveal that earnings from the export of telecommunications, computer, and information services have increased up to $ 995 million in 2018. Of the total earnings in 2018, $ 848 million (85%) was earned jointly by ICT and BPM companies while telecommunications contributed to $ 147 million (15%). Hence, the ICT sector is growing to be the one of the mainstays of the Sri Lankan economy,” he concluded.
According to the workforce survey, the overall strength of the workforce has grown from 82,854 in 2014 to 124,873 in 2018, which amounts to a growth of 50.7%, and is projected to leap further to 146,089 in 2019. The overall composition of the female workforce has improved from 21% in 2010, 29.7% in 2013 to 34% in 2018.
The report also reflects a relatively young ICT workforce in the country, with 93% of ICT workers below 45 years, and 80% of the workforce is calculated to be of less than eight years of experience. Apart from that, ICT companies also account for 92% of employees involved in emerging technologies. Moreover, 64.2% of the ICT workforce are Bachelor’s degree holders, out of which 69% are males and 30.3% are females.
Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) Chairman Prof. Rohan Samarajiva sparking at the event noted that the country’s ICT industry, as well as the demand for graduates in fields such as data analysis, legal services and transcribing, had increased at an unprecedented rate.
“The Sri Lankan ICT workforce has gradually improved and new avenues have opened up for ICT graduates with the rise of ICT industries. The workforce survey has boosted the knowledge of investors, policymakers, employers, organisations and students on the current state of affairs of the Sri Lankan ICT industry.”
Samarajiva also mentioned that the survey relayed useful information to develop sustainable policies regarding the ICT industry of the country in future.
“In order to develop sustainable and useful polices, we need information. As there is an information asymmetry in most industries, surveys such as this combat the asymmetry to run a sustainable industry. Surveys have an important role in providing credible information for policy makers and other beneficiaries of an industry. Publishing solid information about the industry will also give a clear idea about the state of it to incoming prospective. It will help those who are interested to make informed decisions,” he added.
ICTA is the apex Government agency for ICT in Sri Lanka which has been mandated to take necessary measures to implement Government policies in relation to ICT.
