ISLAMABAD, July 20: The demand for networking skills in Pakistan will exceed supply by 45 per cent in the next three years and there will be a shortage of 20,600 skilled people required to help drive economic growth, unless urgent steps were taken to address the situation.
This is the finding of a report on the demand for networking skills in the Middle East and Pakistan, part of a series of Cisco systems, the worldwide leader in networking.
The situation would be even worse if certain technology areas were singled out. For example, the shortfall between supply and demand in advanced networking technology skills (IP telephony, security and wireless) will be 53 per cent in 2009.
In contrast, findings from the same study carried out across Western and Eastern Europe revealed average networking skills gap of 11.8 per cent and advanced networking skills gap of 15.8 per cent by 2008.
Speaking at a press conference Dr Amir Mateen, General Manager, Cisco Systems in Pakistan, said Pakistan was experiencing impressive economic growth and had consistently maintained GDP growth levels. Over the past three years, the Middle East and Pakistan regions had recorded some of the highest GDP growth rates in the world.
Cisco systems expects the ongoing economic expansion in the region to have a strong impact on ICT demand, including networking skills. As an example, IDC forecasts demand for IT in the Middle East and Pakistan to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 16.9 per cent between 2005-2009.
This has led to the unprecedented demand for general and more advanced networking skills. Insufficient training programmes also compound the situation and increased recruitment from local markets accentuates the need to address the issue through local training schemes.
He said Pakistan is actively attempting to address the shortages through various human resource development initiatives. These initiatives reflect the importance of ICT skills to society, and the need to ensure availability of skilled staff.
He said there was also scope for Internet growth in the Middle East and Pakistan. The potential for network expansion was very big, requiring significantly more skills to support such an expansion.
He said there were a number of regional initiatives currently underway in Pakistan to promote further training in science and technology, the forecasted gaps highlight the need for more work to be done to provide the right training courses and to encourage student enrolment.
Dr Amir Mateen said the networking skills shortage could become critical in hindering technology adoption and economic growth in these high growth markets unless action was taken now. By having the skilled people in place, businesses can take advantage of the productivity gains that can be generated with the rapid advances in technology and that are being experienced in Europe.
Shahab Meshki, National Director Networking Academy MEA, threw light on Cisco’s networking academy programme which addressed the need for training in networking technologies through structured courses.
He said there were 27 academies in Pakistan with 1,364 students working in partnership with Cisco. He said there were plans to double or triple the number of students in the next two years.