By Ong Boon Kiat

THE lack of skilled IT professionals has had a 'moderate to severe' negative impact on businesses, according to a survey by US recruitment firm Kelly Services.

Around 80 per cent of respondents from 440 Asia- Pacific organisations said their businesses were affected. And around 63 per cent of respondents from Singapore felt the same, the survey on IT skills in Asia-Pacific found.

'The IT skills shortage is real and is fast approaching a critical state,' said Dhirendra Shantilal, senior vice-president of Asia-Pacific, Kelly Services.

'The IT job market has been very active in the past two to three years due to the setting up of IT hubs and regional shared services centres, which see a boost in demand for experienced IT professionals and teams to manage and support these operations.'

The Michigan-headquartered firm conducted its survey earlier this year, covering 440 Asia-Pacific organisations across 25 industries from Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries. The results were released yesterday.

According to the survey, the lack of experience among the organisation's current IT workforce was the main reason for the shortage of qualified IT talent - cited by 42 per cent of respondents. This was followed by inadequate or non-competitive salary and compensation packages, cited by 40 per cent of respondents; while 36 per cent listed weak talent retention as the causal factor.

Compared with its neighbours, Singapore employers were less severely affected but still pinched by the talent crunch. Two out of three respondents in Singapore - or 63 per cent - felt that the problem has affected their business.

Mr Shantilal noted that Singapore shares its neighbours' sentiments in terms of key reasons for the shortage of IT talent. Lack of experience is the most frequently mentioned driver by Singapore respondents, followed by non-competitive salary and compensation packages.

'Singapore organisations should seek to understand the problem of lack of skills in the context of their own company and conduct a skills audit to identify where the shortages lie. From there, they can offer their employees opportunities to develop new skills and competencies to fill the gaps,' he advised.

Singapore firms can also try hiring from other companies although he noted that doing so can drive up the employer's costs significantly and may not be effective in the longer term.

This article was first published in The Business Times on October 07, 2008.