Ammon News - Study shows big gap between student skills, employers' needs

AMMAN (Jordan Times) - Computer information systems, computer science and software, information systems and computer engineering are the top five ICT majors crucial for local ICT companies with high potential for employment, a survey showed Monday.

The report, released by the ICT Association of Jordan (int@j), revealed that accounting, management and business information systems, in addition to electronic and telecom engineering were the least important fields for ICT employers, with holders of these majors having “very weak” chances to secure jobs.

“The study indicates that there is a big gap between the skills of students and actual demand in the labour market,” int@j CEO Abed Shamlawi told The Jordan Times on Monday.

“The study also seeks to highlight the most needed and most unwanted ICT majors in the country, which should be a guideline for both students and decision makers,” Shamlawi added.

This year, about 5,869 university students will graduate with ICT majors, about 44 per cent of whom are specialised in the least important ICT sectors, he said, citing the “ICT Sector Competencies, Skills and Needs Assessment Report, Jordan 2012”.

“Around 2,588 ICT university students will graduate this year with degrees in majors that have very weak and very limited job opportunities,” Shamlawi noted.

The admission criteria for certain ICT majors need to be changed, and the number of seats allocated at universities for ICT majors that are not in demand need to be reconsidered, he added.

According to the 2012 ICT Workforce Assessment Survey, 40 per cent of ICT employers said it was difficult to find ICT graduates majoring in software engineering in the market.

Some 37 per cent of the companies said it was difficult to find graduates with majors in computer science, another 37 per cent said it was hard to find university students majoring in computer information systems, while 30 per cent said it was not easy to find information system engineering graduates, according to the study.

The survey indicated that three quarters of ICT employers in Jordan believe there are problems in finding well-educated resources in the labour market.

The study also showed that 64 per cent of employers recruit staff through advertisements on their company website; 61 per cent through university vocational centres, headhunting recruitment agencies or word of mouth; and 43 per cent through public advertisements.

In addition, the study indicated that soft skills such as English and presentation, as well as technical skills are needed among ICT graduates in the country.

In terms of cooperation between universities and the private sector, 89 per cent of universities include students’ summer training with ICT private sector companies as a graduation requirement, according to the study.

Some 78 per cent of local universities are involved in the matchmaking process to connect students with private sector companies.

The top five universities according to company hiring preferences were the University of Jordan, the Jordan University of Science and Technology, the Princess Sumaya University for Technology, the Hashemite University and Yarmouk University, respectively.