Employability Management of ICT Professionals

The article describes work conducted as part of the Indic@tor project funded by the European Commission (IST-2000-31070) and supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) (Aspasia program 015.000.114). The study examines the employability of ICT professionals and its management by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe against the backdrop of the expanding but turbulent ICT sector. Employability can be defined as the extent to which employees have skills that the market and employers regard as attractive. The development of technical and professional workers is an area of high priority for governments concerned with creating an adequate supply of skilled labour and fuelling economic growth, while for SMEs, there is general concern about the supply and utilisation of ICT skills, high turnover of experienced staff, and the under supply of qualified new entrants into the profession (Cappelli, 2001; Hill & Stewart, 1999; ITNTO/AISS, 1999).