The most difficult IT positions to recruit into globally are the industry’s ‘unsung heroes’, system administrators and network managers, according to firms responding to a survey carried out by IT solutions firm Ipswitch.

The global survey found that only 7.1% of firms were having difficulty sourcing appropriate talent for telecommunications manager roles, while this figures was 27.9% for system admin roles and 22.7% for network managers.

IT managers were problem hires for 17.2% of respondents, while difficulties were experienced in the recruitment of software developers and programme analysts by 14.6% and 10.4% of respondents respectively.

Ipswitch’s chief information officer, Azmi Jafarey, says: “System administrators and network managers are often the unsung heroes of IT.

“It is paramount that organisations invest more in training and skills development to ensure that system administrators and network managers have the expertise to transfer to new recruits.”