Business monthly October 00   LETTER FROM THE EDITOR FEATURE EXECUTIVE LIFE VIEWPOINT REPORTS SUBSCRIPTION FORM ROUND UP FOLLOW UP ADVERTISING RATES YOUR ASSETS Search Business Monthly | Back Issues

FEATURE

wanted: hi-tech help

while there’s seemingly endless demand for information technology, egyptian it companies must deal with a human resources squeeze

by issandr elamrani

as the landscape of egypt’s burgeoning information technology (it) sector becomes more complicated and more cut-throat, employers in the field are finding it harder to find the right people for the job. managers at several local it companies say that poor graduate skills, weak corporate loyalty and an ongoing brain drain threaten to slow down a sector whose growth may be vital for the country’s future economic success.

although egyptian graduates in the field of it tend to have strong technical skills, the educational system does not prepare them for life in a fast-paced office, said akram farag, a co-founder of intouch egypt, the country’s first internet service provider (isp), and currently managing director of digital systems middle east.

according to farag, it students need to acquire interpersonal skills and adopt more of a problem-solving approach to their work. "the problem is essentially a cultural one," he said. "students have been taught that they have to study for the exam, not necessarily to think for themselves."

there is no dearth of upcoming it graduates. software engineering – fast becoming the most glamorous career track for many young egyptians – has emerged alongside the traditional elite disciplines of engineering and medicine.

a few universities have jumped to catch up with the demand. "now, courses are available – a bit expensive, but it simply wasn’t an option three years ago," said one cairo-based computer specialist. "a lot of universities are opening it departments. for years, it was only auc that offered computer science, but now there are three or four other, private sector universities – like misr international university – doing the same."

farag, however, said that most students taking it-related courses have misperceptions about what type of job to go for. the vast majority of it graduates, he said, are lured by technical jobs, such as programming or system building, as opposed to sales and marketing. the result is an excess of "techies" and a worrying shortage of specialists with knowledge of how to deal with customers.

the education system, farag said, propagates the myth that a career on the technical side of information technology will be more lucrative and personally rewarding. however, "this is simply not true. starting salaries are about 30 to 40 percent higher for sales and marketing staff than they are for programmers."

the problem is not necessarily unique to the it sector. "sales and marketing and middle management are basically non-existent in this country," farag commented.

with the local it sector still in its infancy, salaries are fluctuating wildly – a situation that makes it difficult for either employees or managers to evaluate standards in the market for programmers and other staff. according to one executive, several start-up companies backed by considerable amounts of venture capital have recently been offering salaries far above the egyptian average, in part because they are simply able to do so. other companies, in turn, have been forced to revise their salaries in order to compete for the best staff.

new companies have also introduced a strategy seldom seen before in egypt – head-hunting. the practice of targeting the current employees of other companies has caused irritation among some employers. "it may be ok to steal someone else’s staff in the states or europe," said one marketing executive in an it company, "but here in egypt it’s just not the done thing."

recruitment experts argue that local salaries will soon have to respond to a wider, international shortage of human resources in the it market. "salaries in egypt will sooner or later have to compete, at least regionally," said alaa el ghadban, the managing director of skill-link, a local recruitment firm.

human resources managers are already struggling to keep it professionals on their payrolls. "today’s staff has no corporate loyalty, no ethics," complained alaa farid, managing director of integrated solutions, a maadi-based it services company. "they just care about who pays more – they don’t seem to care about career development."

farid recalled taking in a young, inexperienced graduate and training him over six months to produce a qualified microsoft-certified systems engineer – a widely recognized qualification in the industry. six months after obtaining the certificate, the employee left integrated solutions for another job – one that he clearly would not have obtained without the qualifications he acquired at the company.

integrated solutions may soon include a "loyalty clause" in its employment contracts, to induce employees to stay at least three years – much longer than the usual one-and-a-half to two-year turnover common to most it companies in egypt. failure to respect the contract’s term would make the employee susceptible to paying a fee of up to six months’ worth of salary, farid said.

according to farag, however, this approach would not be feasible. the labyrinthine legal system would make it impractical and expensive to sue contract breakers, particularly since egypt’s labor laws generally favor employees. he prefers to put up with young recruits bailing after a year or two and invest in the older personnel who have already done their share of trying out different companies.

but in farag’s view, the current chaos is sure to settle down, and enticing it specialists to stay at home should not be difficult. "in the united states, it costs $250,000 to create one it job. in egypt, it costs $20,000," he said. "and in any case, egyptians prefer knowing that they have job security, even at a lower salary level. in the states, it’s much easier to fire people, and uncertainty is part of the work culture."

meanwhile, the information technology revolution in the west, particularly north america, is reaching such a growth rate that domestic job markets have a hard time coping with the demand for qualified technicians. according to the financial times of august 11, the united states alone is short 850,000 it professionals, and western europe and japan are not far behind with shortages of 600,000 and 200,000 respectively.

japanese prime minister yoshiro mori made a visit to india in september, where, in the booming technology city of bangalore, he announced japan’s plans to encourage exchanges with indian it engineers, including the issuance of multiple-entry visas.

around the developed world, governments have responded to companies’ concerns about finding qualified people by increasing the quotas of it specialists being given work permits. so while foreign aid agencies try to promote sustainable, home-grown high-tech businesses, immigration departments from the same countries are trying to lure away as many it experts as possible.

some forward-looking egyptian entrepreneurs are banking on another option – outsourcing. rather than going abroad, egyptians could do sub-contract work for foreign companies while remaining at home and continuing to contribute locally as well.

it worx, a software development company founded in 1994 and specializing in offshore development, has practically no egyptian customers. instead, the local firm competes with american, canadian and, more recently, european software developers, said it worx marketing manager katrin dinkel.

the company has an impressive array of clients both in and outside the it world. dinkel said that microsoft, corel and otis elevator have all used it worx as a sub-contractor.

rather than luring customers with cut-rate prices, it worx’s "quality-weighted" services surpass the work of any western company, she said. and compared to any developed country, egypt certainly has the advantage of lower costs for running a business.

it worx was recently picked by the ministry of communications and information technology as one of a handful of high-tech companies that will be allowed to establish themselves – if they wish to do so – in the nasr city free zone, a suburban cairo tax-exempted industrial area.

the government’s move to grant internet and software companies access to special it free zones suggests a realization that the sector has the potential to make an enormous contribution to the country’s prestige and growth – even without contributing tax revenues.

egypt’s current telecommunications infrastructure, however, does not make things easy. while information can be received from the outside world at decent speeds, sending information is much slower.

local isps use their own satellite dishes to receive data, but for sending it out, most are still using the government’s link to underwater cables through alexandria. though these were recently upgraded by 155 megabytes per second, their overall carrying capacity is still far too low, isp technicians say.

the ministry of communications recently cut the rates for access to leased internet lines by about 60 percent, but the government appears to be counting on the private sector to build and operate the next generation of high-speed links to the internet. one way or another, if egypt is to be competitive in offshore software development, communications standards will have to be drastically improved from a technical point of view.

a networks engineer at it worx complained that because of poor internet infrastructure, he cannot provide timely code updates to clients. "egypt’s outgoing data rate is about one-eighth that of any typical small american university," he said. "how are we expected to keep up?"

submit your comment

top