IT skills in demand<\/p>\n
Information technology is changing the world, including
\ncrisis-plagued Indonesia. The problem is the dearth of skilled
\nworkers in the country who know their way around the web. The
\nJakarta Post contributor Rudy Madanir looks at the hunt for
\nworkers with Net value, including those who went abroad.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Most people find themselves in a bind when it
\ncomes to job hunting, especially as the opportunities in
\nIndonesia are few and far between.<\/p>\n
It's a different case for information technology (IT) workers.
\nThe most sought-after professionals on earth, their problem is
\nhow to pick from the slew of attractive job offers piling up on
\ntheir desks.<\/p>\n
Recruiting firm PT Sumberdaya Info Prima is overwhelmed by the
\ndemand. \"It's enough to make my head explode,\" said company
\npresident Chris Mangowal.<\/p>\n
With contracts for 120 positions, the firm was forced to
\nscramble to find the most qualified candidates before they were
\nhead-hunted by someone else.<\/p>\n
The firm styles itself as a recruiting specialist for IT
\nworkers, claiming it has the most complete and accurate database
\nfor thousands of IT personnel in the country.<\/p>\n
Even with its considerable resources, it, like many other
\ncompanies, has had to face up to the daunting shortage of
\nqualified candidates.<\/p>\n
The company's staff interviews six to eight candidates a day,
\nmakes the rounds of campuses and, as a last resort, targets
\nworkers with proven IT skills.<\/p>\n
Mangowal acknowledged that the growing practice of hijacking
\nIT workers was unavoidable due to the desperate circumstances.
\nThe firm itself has gone after dozens of workers.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes a client comes to us and says 'I want so-and-so',
\nand tells us where we can find the person,\" said Mangowal.<\/p>\n
Managing director of IT consultant PT Sapora Nusantara Linda
\nMangunsong said she was accustomed to having many of her
\nexperienced IT consultants move on to other firms.<\/p>\n
Like other casually dressed, young IT workers in IT solution
\ncompany PT Arus Nawala, 27-year-old technical director Arie
\nZanahar has found his e-mail full of job offers in the past year.<\/p>\n
\"Generally, they offer me three times my current salary. There
\nwas one offer for five times my salary plus stock options,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Facing the real threat of losing his staff, company managing
\npartner Oki Subagyo is also desperately seeking 15 to 20 more IT
\nworkers amid the skyrocketing number of job orders for website
\ndesign and technical support.<\/p>\n
Compared to other job hunters for whom the crisis drags on,
\nworkers who know the Internet are on easy street. Job wanted
\nadvertisements are crowded with IT-related positions. Many
\nqualified IT specialists no longer bother to read the ads because
\nthe firms come to them, offering dazzling salary and benefit
\npackages.<\/p>\n
Mangowal said a senior management IT position could be worth
\nUS$100,000 a year, a senior programmer can earn Rp 10 million to
\nRp 15 million in take-home pay per month while a programmer with
\na couple of years of experience would earn from Rp 5 million to
\nRp 6 million a month.<\/p>\n
An entry level IT worker can make between Rp 1.5 million and
\nRp 2 million a month, higher than salaries in most entry level
\npositions in other sectors.<\/p>\n
The tremendous demand for IT workers has been triggered by the
\nproliferation of dot.com companies and established firms now
\nyearning to go online. Many are still busy developing their
\nwebsites, with e-commerce yet to be considered.<\/p>\n
Once considered an exorbitant expense, IT technology is now a
\nvital investment. Many firms have set up IT departments, in
\ncontrast to the outset of the crisis when they refused to buy new
\ncomputers and laid off IT specialists.<\/p>\n
The cyber era is still in its infancy in the country, but
\nthere is a great need for more IT workers -- computer programmers
\nand technicians, webmasters, network engineers, technologically
\nsavvy managers -- to help it on its way to development.<\/p>\n
There are no exact statistics on the demand for IT workers,
\nespecially qualified ones. Some estimate the demand could reach
\ntriple or quadruple the supply.<\/p>\n
Overseas<\/p>\n
The problem is compounded as the small pool of locally
\nqualified IT workers has been depleted by job offers from
\noverseas. They might be treated like kings at home, but foreign
\nenterprises are matching the offers with excellent benefits,
\nespecially tempting during the prolonged crisis.<\/p>\n
\"I would say about 1,000 of our alumni, or 10 percent of the
\ntotal, are now working overseas,\" said Once Kurniawan, dean of
\nthe School of Computer Science at Bina Nusantara University.<\/p>\n
He said many of the school's graduates found work in
\nSingapore, and others went to Australia, New Zealand, Europe and
\nthe United States.<\/p>\n
Many of the school's lecturers also could not pass up the
\noffers from abroad, he added.<\/p>\n
Mangowal said his company sent 50 people abroad at the
\nbeginning of the crisis.<\/p>\n
\"At that time, they just wanted to get out from Indonesia for
\nsafety reasons, no matter what happened overseas.\"<\/p>\n
The brain drain of IT workers to foreign countries is facing
\nnot only Indonesia, but other developing countries like India and
\nChina.<\/p>\n
Mangunsong, who claimed to have maintained close contact with
\nIndonesian IT workers abroad, said she understood why many of the
\nworkers who were Chinese-Indonesians left the country during the
\ninstability.<\/p>\n
\"If I was one of them, I would have done the same thing,
\nbecause of feeling insecure here while there were so many better
\nopportunities outside,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Due to the shortage of IT experts at home, Mangunsong said she
\nsometimes called on Indonesians working abroad to help her on
\nprojects. She noted that clients would sometimes complain about
\nthe expense of using the outside consultant but \"then I respond
\nthat our Indonesian consultant can easily get more payment by
\nstaying overseas\".<\/p>\n
With the election of President Abdurrahman Wahid in October
\nlast year, many Indonesian IT workers abroad started to come
\nhome. Mangowal said he was able to relocate many of the workers
\nhe sent abroad. Others, however, have stayed put abroad, with
\nfinancial concerns included among their reasons.<\/p>\n
Even with the return of IT workers, the number is still not
\nenough to help the country build an e-economy.<\/p>\n
Although the warnings are growing louder about the IT crisis,
\nthe education sector cannot be expected to solve the problem
\novernight. It takes time and money to develop IT specialists,
\nwith IT-related training usually coming with a hefty U.S. dollar
\nprice tag.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/it-skills-in-demand-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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