ICT Workforce Survey:

Vital info to make Lanka a knowledge hub

by Gamini WARUSHAMANA

The IT sector of Sri Lanka is growing at an average of 17 percent a year in terms of workforce the National ICT Workforce Survey revealed.

During the past four years the IT workforce in the country has grown by around 100 percent, the survey conducted by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) said.

In 2005 the IT workforce in the country was 30,120 and it increased to 50,159 in 2010 and is projected to be around 62,000 now. The survey covered IT, non IT, BPO and IT training sectors and selected 510 organisations including 80 government institutions, 325 private sector organisations, 30 IT BPO companies and 75 IT training organisations.

According to statistics the female workforce in the BPO sector increases at 43 percent annually. The number of IT graduates in the country in 2010 was 4473 and of them 3970 are employed.

In 2010, the workforce increased by 7,338, a 17 percent growth. The growth in the IT sector is 56 percent, non-IT 29 percent, government 8 percent, and BPO 7 percent. The IT Enabled Services (ITES) and BPO sector workforce increased by 33 percent compared to 2009. Programming and Software Engineering accounts for 26 percent of the IT workforce and Technical Support is the second largest job category with 17 percent share followed by System and Network Administration with a 11 percent share.

The attrition rate in the overall sector is 7 percent. It is the highest in the IT sub sector at 11 percent. The brain drain is 4 percent.

A Bachelors degree is the most preferred minimum academic qualification by the employers for high end IT professions. The demand for IT graduates in all sectors was 3,970 which is less than the estimated supply of 4,473.

The IT, non-IT and BPO sectors expect soft skills, especially communication skills in addition to academic qualifications. Employers find those skills lacking in employees.

The Initial salary scale in all sectors is estimated at Rs.10,00-20,000 per month. Salaries increase fast with experience. In the IT and non-IT sector salaries increase at a faster rate than in the government sector. In IT training, the state and private universities play a leading role with experienced teaching staff. The ITES and BPO sector is growing and Sri Lanka’s ranking in the Global Service Location Index has climbed from 29th in 2007 to 16th position in 2009. Sri Lanka has been recognised as an outsourcing destination.

The ITES/BPO sector provides 20 percent on-shore services, 44 percent off-shore services and 36 percent of both. The estimated workforce in ITES/BPO sector was 11,384 in 2009 growing at 42 percent annually. The male to female ratio in the sub sector workforce is 57 percent to 43 percent.

Over 50 percent of senior and middle level staff in all sectors use computers for more than 75 percent of their day-to-day activities. Around 85 percent of the respondents use ICT for financial management, 60 percent for human resources management, 52 percent for inventory management. Over 95 percent of IT BPO companies and nearly 90 percent of government and IT training institutions maintain their own websites. Over 86 percent of the websites publish the contents in the English Language only.

However, 30 percent of government organisations publish the contents in Sinhala, Tamil and English. CEO ICTA Reshan Devapura said that the survey reveals vital information for the sector catering to the demand of many stakeholders and potential investors. The information can be used to achieve government initiatives to make Sri Lanka a knowledge hub and targets of the IT industry.