The IT workforce of Sri Lanka which constitutes of all IT professionals working in the IT sector, Non-IT Sector and Government was 75,107 in 2013, estimated to be 82,854 with YOY growth of an average of 13% in 2014. The participation of females in the workforce also improved from 21% in 2009 to 29% in 2013 (Source-ICT Workforce Survey 2014) .  

IT Workforce by Job Category

Qualifications:

In 2013, the share of employees with a degree or above increased to 63% which was an improvement in the qualifications profile of the ICT workforce.

Experience:

In 2013, IT professionals with 1-5 years experience were 67% and professionals with more than 5 years experience were 33%

Overall Growth of IT Work Force

Skills Available

  • Social
  • Mobile
  • Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Web
  • Design
  • Enterprise applications
  • IT infrastructure
  • Project Management
  • Business Analysis

Continuous Learning

The community driven training and development culture in Sri Lanka reinforces continuous learning and development of the workforce. ColomboCamps Community,WSO2, Orion City, Calcey, Exilesoft etc. spearheads meetups on DevOps, JAVA,  Agile, Product Engineering, IOT

Thought leadership sessions organised by Industry Associations such as SLASSCOM, FITIS and Professional Bodies such as BCS, CSSL have brought down experts such as Ken Segall (former creative Director of Apple), Dr. Steven Voldman (Guru Intellectual Property), Sanjay Patel (Rio Tinto) etc.

Product engineering skills are nurtured through the startup eco-system in Sri Lanka and the local and International Universities which result in achieving the highest global accolades

Read more on the startup ecosystem in Sri Lanka

Graduate output

Over 5700 employable IT Graduates and over 1000 Post Graduates and Masters holders produced every year

Supplementing the Graduate Output

Diplomas and Higher National Diplomas

British Computer Society (BCS)

 

Trade certifications:

  • MICROSOFT
  • JAVA
  • ORACLE
  • CISCO
  • REDHAT
  • VMWARE
  • SAP
  • PMP
  • CBAP
  • EC-COUNCIL
  • ADOBE

Quality of Education

“Ranked 1st in South Asia under higher education and training category” – Global Competitiveness Report 2014″

 

Sri Lanka has a 92% literacy rate among the highest in Asia. IT literacy reached 40% in 2014 and is poised to reach 75% by 2016 according to the national development plan.

Academic Institutions

Universities with local and International Degrees and Private Institutes that have partnerships with International Universities

State owned Universities offering IT :

  • University of Colombo
  • University of Peradeniya
  • University of Sri Jayawardanepura
  • University of Kelaniya
  • University of Moratuwa
  • University of Jaffna
  • University of Ruhuna
  • Eastern University
  • South Eastern University
  • Rajarata University
  • Sabaragamuwa University
  • University of Wayamba
  • University of Uva Wellassa
  • University of Colombo School of Computing
  • Open University of Sri Lanka

Privately owned Colleges offering IT:

  • APIIT affiliated to University of Staffordshire
  • IIT affiliated to University of Westminister and Keele
  • ACBT affiliated to Edith Cowan University
  • ICBT affiliated to Cardif Metropolitan
  • Northshore College of Business and IT affiliated to University of the West of England
  • SAITM affiliated to Asian Institute of Technology and Bucks New University
  • Royal Institute affiliated to University of London
  • ANZ affiliated to University of Monash
  • Singapore Informatics affiliated to University of Portsmouth
  • Austin University
  • University of Bolton
  • CINEC Maritime Campus
  • NIBM affiliated to University College Dublin/ Limkokwing
  • SLIIT affiliations with Curtin University of Technology and Deakin Universitie
  • ESOFT affiliated to London Metropolitan University
  • IDM

Hackathons, Meetups and Tech Talks

The undergraduates studying in Sri Lanka frequently engage in Hackathons, Meetups and Tech Talks  organised by Private Sector Industry Bodies such as SLASSCOM, British Computer Society and the Government body ICT Agency of Sri Lanka

MIT Global Startup labs works in partnership with the University of Moratuwa

Such exposure is not only for the Colombo based Universities but for Northern based Universities as well through the Yaal IT Hub

Read more on the Startup Ecosystem in Sri Lanka 

Primary and Secondary Education

Sri Lanka has approximately 10,000 state schools and free education right through to university level

Information Technology is being taught as a major subject in the School Curriculum and students are tested at the GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level Exams.

Competitions organised at school level by the Ministry of Education in partnership with Industry Associations, Private and Non- Governmental Organisation are paving the way for the next generation of technology startups  

  • Young Computer Scientist Award organised by FITIS and the Ministry of Education
  • Children’s Hackathon organised by UNICEF, Ministry of Education , Microsoft and ICT Agency
  • Yaal Geek Challenge
  • Microsoft Imagine Cup

Read more on the startup ecosystem in Sri Lanka