The IT Talent Apocalypse: A Looming Crisis or a Golden Opportunity?
As we hurtle towards 2028, the airline booking system is a marvel of modern technology – seamless, efficient, and user-friendly. But what about the old-school technology that keeps the actual planes moving? A 76-year-old, who takes an afternoon nap after his post-bowls routine, is still responsible for maintaining the ancient systems. What could possibly go wrong?
The rapid digitization of core business functions demands new IT skills, while legacy systems persist. Can the market keep up? Shane Radford, founder and director of Wazee, which orchestrates skills journeys for Africa’s youth, weighs in on the challenges and potential solutions of the IT talent landscape, focusing on the aging workforce.
The Problem in Brief:
- Grow and equip young talent, who are essential to revitalise the workforce.
- Maintain the old systems. Critically, those who have the legacy skills tend to be over 50, which presents a major risk for many of the world’s largest organisations.
- Start the migration from old to new. This can take decades, as legacy systems that are highly complex and integrated need to be reprovisioned.
The Costs and ROI of Investing in Young Talent:
- Graduate talent represents a significant investment to business. Global studies suggest it costs approximately R600 000 over a period of 12 months to source, onboard, and transition a new graduate into a productive workforce contributor with real-world working experience.
- The costs are complex and generally not fully accounted for. In addition to recruitment, training, salary, and overhead costs (typically 25% to 30% of salary), their journey to productivity includes redirecting time from senior experts away from revenue-generating work to managing, coaching, and mentoring the youth.
Solutions for Bridging the Gap:
- As a foundation, organisations must build hybrid workforce models with diverse talent that works together across boundaries, age groups, and skills sets.
- Focus on cultivating professional pathways, not just plugging technical skills gaps.
- Invest in hands-on internship-style programs that partner junior and senior talent and aim to get new entrants competent and able to self-direct as soon as possible.
Addressing the Challenge of Resource Allocation:
- The above suggestion understandably raises concerns about time and resources. With rising pressures and a diminishing workforce, experienced and senior people increasingly don’t have the capacity to be this hands-on – they’re so busy keeping the lights on!
- A solution is to utilise a "workforce as a service" model. Rather than relying solely on existing employees, this approach works by "gigging in" experienced experts from outside the organisation.
Nurturing Cross-Generational Leadership:
- One key ingredient to getting new grads fully up to speed is to develop skills that support autonomy, initiative, and self-leadership.
- This is particularly important when the focus of IT work is shifting to getting things done through AI.
- Senior experts can revitalise their own careers as well as create a legacy by developing their own leadership capabilities.
The Verdict:
The IT talent landscape is facing a crisis, but it’s also an opportunity to revitalize the workforce and create a legacy. By investing in young talent, nurturing cross-generational leadership, and leveraging a "workforce as a service" model, organisations can bridge the gap and stay ahead of the curve.
