TECH experts have noticed a worrying trend — a rise in tech jobs, but a shortage of skilled tech graduates.

“We have people with [tech] skills; we just don’t have enough, and we’re not training them,” asserted Trevor Forrest, chief executive officer of 876 Technology Solutions, while speaking with the Jamaica Observer.

Jamaican tech companies, as well as global firms with a presence on the island, are actively seeking professionals in specific tech-related areas.

“For 2022 and 2021, the skills that were most in demand were data scientists, cybersecurity experts, artificial intelligence experts, machine learning experts, and cloud computing experts,” revealed Andre Palmer, director of research and engagement at Symptai Consulting Limited.

These jobs, however, are facing a deficit despite a large number of graduates in computer and technology related fields. As a tech recruiter, Palmer revealed that of the top three universities — the University of Technology Jamaica (UTech), The University of the West Indies (The UWI), and Northern Caribbean University (NCU) — there are about 270 graduates in computer and technology-related fields every year. The UWI averaged 84 graduates per year in the technology or information technology (IT) discipline. Under HEART Trust, UTech produced between 100 and 150 graduates, and it’s anticipated their numbers will increase exponentially over the next three to five years.

“The question is now whether or not the graduates that are coming out of the universities, the skills that they are coming out of univeristy with are aligned with the role that exist in the marketplace currently, and the answer is no,” said Plamer.

He explained to Sunday Finance that while universities are producing a lot of talent in the IT space, it tends to be in the traditional areas of IT, such as network security, general IT management, software development, and basic coding. The demand in development security operations (dev sec ops), which looks at integrating IT security as part of the development lifecycle from start to finish, is not being met, and other emerging tech jobs, such as cloud software engineers and data science and analytics, to manage large organisations with volumes of data, is also lacking. “We now see that UWI has a really good [data science] programme at the master’s level, but at the undergraduate level it really just hits the surface,” he said.

The tech experts are now calling for the curriculum to be revamped to include a practical component for all undergraduate degrees, and to create more opportunities to work with external partners to provide practical experience in the core curriculum. This will ensure graduates leave with a broader understanding of what a real-life work environment entails.

Additionally, they believe the learning period for technology should be extended beyond tertiary or secondary levels, having the education curriculum modernised to include science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects from an early age, with a focus on coding, data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI).

“I think the educational institutions, having no policy from a government or national level to say look, they focus on this space, have to change their curriculum. It’s only recently that we’ve seen that it has started to happen, but again, I don’t see it happening on a huge scale. But we’ve been missing that boat for a very long time,” Forrest told Sunday Finance.

China has been leading the way in this respect, having announced in 2017 a New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan. According to the document, the aim is that “by 2030, China’s AI theories, technologies, and applications should achieve world-leading levels, making China the world’s primary AI innovation centre”.

Already, China has rolled out its AI curriculum for junior secondary students; the curriculum covers ChatGPT, fundamental AI concepts, computer vision, computer speech and language, robotic reasoning, AI ethics, and the social impact of AI — something that Forrest believes Jamaica should adopt.

“Coding is a mental thing; it’s the training of the mind to think a particular way, and we have to start that with the kids, who are sponges, and mould the minds. Yes, we have recently started; that is something that we need to take very seriously, and we want to ensure that we invest heavily in that because the potential that it has to surpass things like tourism in a more consistent revenue-generating way is tremendous,” said Forrest.

Pointing out the potential for tech exports, he says keen attention should be given to what is in demand globally, and the focus should be on how to supply that demand as well.

“If you look at what the top sectors in Jamaica are as it relates to the tech industry, only two of those factor in: software development and data analytics. The other ones, information technology consulting, web development, and e-commerce, are not the key areas globally. So if it is that we’re going to compete globally, we need to look at where the global demand for tech jobs is, and I don’t think that we’re doing that,” Forrest asserted.

But until the education system is fully transformed, Forrest is appealing to those interested in tech to pursue education online to fill these roles.

“You don’t need to go to school here because if the certification you want is not offered here, it’s offered elsewhere,” he said.