Demand is greater than supply. This is the reality that Malta, and other European countries, have been faced with for the last couple of years. In Malta this is even more compounded with the booming iGaming industry, IT Departments in Financial Services (and other) companies, as well as specialised IT Services companies, that have not only increased the demand of such talent but also heavily disrupted the requirements on the ICT industry providers.
As Steven Hankin of McKinsey & Company rightly coined the term, it is a ‘War of Talent’, and as cliché as it may sound, it is true. The IT and iGaming skills shortage is not a constant, it is escalating. Skill shortages fuel a continuous escalation of unfilled vacancies and an increase of over-reliance on the attraction and retention of foreign nationals. The most recent National Employee Skills Survey (June 2016) indicates that 48% of employers recruited foreign nationals.
Due to the high demand and limited supply of local IT & iGaming professionals, salaries and benefits are in general significantly higher than averages in other industries functioning on the Maltese Islands. Taking into consideration a lower cost of living than other European countries, as well as the fact that salaries are constantly on the rise, foreign individuals looking to work in the IT & iGaming sector find Malta an appealing destination to relocate. Currently, more than 50% of Malta’s job opportunities in IT related sectors are reliant upon the skills and competencies of foreign workers.
While a multicultural environment brings a richness and diversity in skills and attitudes, such over-reliance on immigration to fuel growth in the IT & iGaming sector brings vulnerability and high-dependence. Due to this, there is the emerging need of enhancing initiatives and incentives holistically, not solely for the purpose of attracting foreign talent but rather with the aim of establishing Malta as a long-term career opportunity and not as a working holiday in a sunny, English speaking and safe island.
While the lack of local talent awakened the need from diverse entities - employers, training providers, policy makers and the wider community - to unite and work towards a common consensus, it is more evident now that there is a need to have allocated professional recruitment resources/agencies who work to continuously nurture the talent pipeline with the aim of minimizing the shortage gap.
Though it is assumed that bringing in-house recruiters increases saving to any business, the reality is that having a trusted recruitment agency of professionals will not only allow you to pay on a need basis but also be in a position to provide you with industry knowledge, to guide and advise any business regarding current trends and lastly to guarantee top candidate through ongoing efforts.
Here at KONNEKT, we work towards fostering peace of mind to our clients. We invest in building partnerships. We are keen to learn and experience the unique qualities of respective companies to ensure the right fit. We value the importance of an employee’s well-being and the return an employer celebrates when a proper match is acquired.
In a reality that IT & iGaming professionally find themselves spoilt for choice, having more than one job offer at hand at the same time, while they are constantly being headhunted, KONNEKT works towards building long lasting relationships. While headhunting goes beyond our ethos, we ensure that we assist candidates into choosing the right career opportunity but providing unbiased advice and by building relationships that allow them to portray us as trusted advisers for their prospective career growth.
To view our current career opportunities in the IT & iGaming industry, click here.
