A new professional field has emerged on the labour market, focused on the digitalisation of the working environment of companies. The pandemic has forced companies to move operations online and the necessary professionals are in short supply. The new field offers a variety of specializations from junior to managerial positions. It also offers careers to recent high school and university graduates. The necessary knowledge is not yet taught in schools, so companies are counting on the fact that they will educate specialists themselves. Junior salaries start at CZK 35,000 with the possibility of rapid career growth.
Brno, 23. August 2021 – Domestic companies have started investing massively in digitalization and virtualization of the work environment: called. Digital Workspace. During the covid-19 pandemic, it was clearly demonstrated that companies with a fully digitised environment are more resilient and can fully operate even during difficult conditions, including the most stringent lockdowns*. The rapid development of digitalization of companies has therefore created an increased demand for IT experts who can implement such projects and subsequently provide operational support.
This has turned the creation of a digital enterprise environment into a full-fledged field that deals with how to connect different technologies so that employees can work easily and securely from anywhere on any device. The fact that not everything is working as employees expect was confirmed by a survey conducted during the pandemic: 52% of employees were not working well, especially communication with colleagues and connection to company systems was lacking (see charts*).
“It’s not just about working from home, but the ability to collaborate and communicate with colleagues in a virtual environment, quickly share documents, access company systems from a mobile phone, computer or tablet. But also to secure the data, to make it available to the right people or to evaluate the functioning of the company,” explains Ladislav Blažek, Technical Director of System4u, which helps companies with digitalization of workplaces and company systems.
Even recent high school graduates can make a career
The new field is also an opportunity for motivated university and high school graduates. The necessary knowledge is not taught at schools, so companies count on the fact that they will educate specialists themselves: ‘At a university with an IT focus, students learn mainly to program. As far as systems administration is concerned, graduates swim in it. They have perfectly studied the theory, but they can’t translate it into practice. If a candidate has a basic understanding of the issues, he or she will learn the other necessary knowledge with us,” Jitka Šafářová, Human Resources Manager at System4u, comments on the situation on the labour market.
The salary of digital professionals is similar to that of other IT fields (see table below). Juniors start at a salary of 35,000 crowns and senior positions are around 70,000 crowns. Technical directors have salaries of up to CZK 100,000. The specific amount depends on the qualifications and responsibilities of the employee.
Women welcome: digitalisation could attract more women to IT
Qualification requirements for digital professionals include, in particular, project management and communication skills. “What is valued more than programming is the ability to understand the customer and put new technologies into practice. Digitalization is an IT field where interpersonal skills are as important as professional knowledge,” says Ladislav Blažek.
In the future, the new profession could attract more women to IT, who are still rather an exception in the field. “Hopefully, in time we will be able to break the stereotype that IT is only for technically oriented guys. Digital Workspace could change this, as it is a multidisciplinary field that gives room for different specialisations,” concludes Jitka Šafářová from System4u.
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INFOBOX: Digital Workspace – a new IT discipline that deals with the design of information systems interconnection, data management and their transfer to the cloud, endpoint management (Unified Endpoint Management), device and data security or data access management (Identity Management) and customer service support.
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| position title | description of responsibilities | the necessary knowledge and skills | salary assessment |
| Technical Director | Management of the entire IT and technical support team. Responsible for IT services provided to customers, dedicated to key accounts. | Managerial and advanced technical knowledge. Good knowledge of English. | 80-100 thousand CZK |
| project manager | Managing and ensuring the implementation of projects, coordinating teams of specialists. Communication with customers. | Knowledge of project management and necessary technologies. Organizational and managerial skills. Knowledge of English. | 60-70 thousand CZK |
| technical support manager | Technical support and project management. Creation of documentation. | Knowledge and understanding of ITIL processes. Technical knowledge. Knowledge of English. | 60-70 thousand CZK |
| system architect | Customer support and independent solutions for IT projects, professional consultations. Implementation of large-scale implementations. Testing and designing new solutions. Support for salespeople and IT administrators. | Good knowledge of a range of technologies and project management required. Communication skills. Knowledge of English. | 60-70 thousand CZK |
| Administrator | Daily contact with IT specialists on the customer side. Inspection, setup and maintenance of systems. Implementation of technology. Testing and designing new solutions. | Technical knowledge. Administration of operating systems at the administrator level. Knowledge of English. | 35-50 thousand CZK |
NOTE: *Findings from a survey by technology company System4u, conducted by research agency SC&C among 1,422 respondents who worked from home as of March 2020.
