A desperate shortage of computer system testers is forcing
recruitment agencies working on the multi-million pound Department
of Social Security IT project to look abroad to make up the
shortfall.
The recruitment company Computer Consultants has confirmed that the
lack of system testers in the UK has forced it to look to
Australia, the US and South Africa to meet the requirements of the
DSS IT project.
Computer Consultants has been offering £30 to £40 an hour to
attract system testers qualified in IBM Mainframe, CICS, COBOL, DB2
and MVS Essential.
The testers are required on sites at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and
Cranford, Middlesex, for the latest stage of the DSS IT systems
project.
The £2bn ten year project was won last year by the EDS-led Affinity
consortium. Other companies in the consortium include IBM and
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Bruce Ritchie of Computer Consultants has found it almost
impossible to find the 50 to 60 qualified testers required to
complete the latest part of the project.
"These IBM skills are used in a number of places around the world
but it would be easier to find ants teeth than find such people in
England," said Ritchie.
Of the testing staff recruited so far 50% have come from Australia,
25% from the US and 25% from beyond the European Union.
Computer Consultants confirmed that the rates of pay are not good
by world rates but people are prepared to come to England to work
for the money.
"The level of expertise in the UK is not as wide as is the case in
the US, Australia or South Africa," said Ritchie.
The long-term nature of the project - scheduled to last 10 years -
is believed to be an attraction to those coming from overseas with
a view to working in the UK for an extended period.
Another recruitment consultant said that there was a shortage of
the skills required for the contract in the UK because workers have
moved on. "They need old skills," the consultant said. "In the UK
people that had these skills have now moved on to Java or C++ where
they can earn more money. It is not that the skills were never
here; rather people with those skills used their Y2K bonuses to
retrain," he added.
EDS, which subcontracts large parts of the project, denied that it
was recruiting anyone on the DSS account.
Paul Donovan