For the past several years, big IT vendors such as IBM have been setting up sprawling manufacturing facilities and snapping up the relatively low-cost IT labor on the Emerald Isle. But salaries haven't proved to be the deciding factor for IT professionals who are trying to determine where to work. In fact, compensation packages for IT personnel at Ireland's banks, insurers and manufacturers often surpass those of technology firms. Nevertheless, their IT staffers continue to flee. Greg Kennedy, chief technology officer at recruiting agency CPL Resources PLC in Dublin, thinks he knows why.
Developers also get bored easily.
Mike Campbell, head of IT at Anglo Irish Bank Corp. in Dublin, says he thinks he has found a good answer. What we do offer is rapid progression in terms of being given responsibility for different areas of the bank. We show them the management prospects, the career opportunities, the chance to make something work better for the business, whether it's Cobol, relational databases or Web development. To help employees visualize those growth opportunities, Campbell has also changed the bank's IT management structure. Until last year, he ran a flat organization.