Information Technology Professionals’ Skill Requirements in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study tracked changes in skill requirements of information technology (IT) professionals in Hong Kong. The study coded representative job advertisements that appeared in the newspapers over a period of fourteen years – from 1990 to 2004. As there are many IT job titles, this study focused on three – namely, programmer, systems analyst, and IT manager. The coding results showed that there are changing emphases among three types of skills, vis-a-viz technical skills, business skills, and systems skills. Technical skills, however, remained the most important for programmers while business skills continued to be the most sought after for IT managers. Systems skills are marginally less important than technical and business skills for systems analysts. One discerning result concerning skill changes is that business skills appear to be increasing in importance for programmers and systems analysts. The study discussed the implications of the results.