Ireland’s IT skills supply insufficient to meet future demand predictions

Posted on: 23 October 2025

The report commissioned by Scale Ireland and undertaken by labour market experts, David Collings, Professor of Sustainable Business at Trinity Business School, and Dr. Shirley Kavanagh, an executive adviser and consultant specialising in talent management, workforce development, and organisational strategy has found that Ireland faces a considerable challenge to meet the future skills needs of its indigenous IT sector.

Scale Ireland is the not-for-profit, independent representative organisation for Irish tech start-up and scaling companies. It is the biggest representative organisation for the sector with 800 members.

The report which it commissioned found that notwithstanding that Ireland performs creditably in international skills comparisons surveys, we face a serious challenge to meet the skills demands of a growing tech sector.

Key points raised include:

• Ireland performs well in producing ICT graduates, but current supply models suggest that supply will be insufficient to meet future demand.
• Reskilling and upskilling of employees is likely to be critical. As skills evolve some skills will reduce in importance while others will emerge or become more valuable. Organisations must invest in continuous learning, upskilling and reskilling to meet emerging skills needs. A key risk is that SMEs including indigenous tech start-ups and scaling companies are less likely to have a talent development strategy in place.
• It is unlikely that third level institutions alone will provide sufficient supply to meet the growing skills demands of the ICT sector. We recommend a greater focus on other routes to entry to the labour market such as apprenticeships.
• The sector (indigenous and multinational) is already highly reliant on migrant labour with as much as 40% of employment in the sector already undertaken by non-Irish labour. The authors point to the importance of targeted global messaging about employment opportunities and the importance of an efficient employment permit system. Barriers to international migration include high personal tax rates, cost of living, personal safety, and infrastructure, particularly housing and transport.
• The overall ICT sector (indigenous and multinational) may require as many as 89,590 new positions by 2030. The skills profile will be impacted by additional demand for AI and machine learning skills, network, cybersecurity and technological literacy. In calculating these growth figures, and noting the potential that some work will be automated by AI potentially reducing employment, the authors assume that any efficiencies will be supplemented by higher growth in the medium term. Indeed, while we have witnessed some disruption in the labour market with some job reductions attributed to improved productivity in the context of AI, in line with broader reports and historical trends, the analysis in the report assumes this will level out in the relatively short term.

The report also suggests that attracting critical talent may pose a greater challenge to start-up and scaling companies that often lack the human resources capacity of larger firms. Sectoral level initiatives will be critical to upskilling, and bodies such as Skillnet Ireland and SOLAS are likely to play a key role in this regard.

It also calls for additional inward diversity paths for the sector. Notwithstanding indicators of a strong commitment to inclusion and the empowerment of women, female employment in ICT remains relatively low.

Ultimately, the report states that Ireland will be competing against other jurisdictions for skills talent and we must engage proactively to address this challenge.

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