January 2024
Navigating the Digital Frontier: IT Professionals Confront the Top Challenges of 2024
IT professionals are facing significant difficulties today, on a global scale. Solving crucial issues and facing significant challenges on a daily basis has always been part of the deal. However, the fast-evolving technological changes and the enormous pressure for digital transformation in the post-covid era, often make -even the most compete tech expert- feeling puzzled.
Let’s examine some of the current (and some timeless) challenges that IT professionals face that affect their work and wellbeing.
WORKLOAD
In the rapidly evolving landscape of today’s technology industry, the demand for strong IT and technology skills has skyrocketed. Navigating this dynamic environment has become both exciting and challenging. One of the biggest hurdles we face in our roles is workload. It’s a constant companion, exacerbated by the regular turnover of team members and the resulting knowledge gaps. When a colleague decides to move on, there is a significant void, with the remaining team members taking on additional responsibilities. Not only does this increase the workload, but it also exposes a gap in specialized skills that need to be filled quickly.
SKILLS GAPS
In terms of skills gaps, there is a slight positive shift compared to 2023. While 76% of IT decision makers reported a skills gap, that’s now down to 66%. However, navigating the ever-changing technology landscape remains a challenge. The rapid pace of technological advancement makes it difficult for IT professionals to keep up. This is compounded by a lack of investment in training. It’s vital to choose employers that truly invest in education, but there is still the need to take charge of one’s own learning and development, looking for ways to bridge these gaps and keep up to date.
LACK OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Technology workers tend to be very ambitious. They want to keep learning and developing their skills. They will seek to do this either within the company or elsewhere because, in addition to the desire for higher rewards, career development and opportunities tend to be particularly important. The lack of the former is one of the main reasons why people leave their jobs. According to SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management). 68% of employees would stay with their company for the long term if they were offered training opportunities and new roles.
UNCLEAR JOB ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
IT is essentially an area of constant change. This can be fatal for some departments, especially if the person in charge does not understand it and does not communicate with the team. As a result, more than 1/3 of IT professionals say that communication is the biggest challenge to their department’s success. Communication is essential in order to keep the team on the same page in terms of roles, changes and expectations.
LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY
This is exactly the result of not specified and/or not clearly communicated roles and responsibilities. A project can be doomed, the client can be lost, and the team members can be found distressed trying to find out what went wrong. Accountability and responsibility lie in the heart of every IT project and team members should be on the same page regarding the specs, the scope, the deadlines and so on.
