Channel recruitment agency gets technical

Genesis Associates responds to industry demand for staff trained in cloud and virtualisation

The jobs market has not caught up with new and emerging technologies, according to a channel recruitment agency which has launched a new technical branch of its business in response to the increased demand for skilled technical staff.

Genesis Associates, whose offices are based in Manchester and Handworth, Cheshire, works with about 30 resellers, as well as with distributors and tier-one vendors.

The firm, which was established in 2007 and employs 40 staff, is responding to industry demand for specialised technical staff following the boom in virtualisation and cloud-based technology.

Director of Genesis Associates, Craig Austin (pictured), has worked in channel recruitment for 12 years, and said that channel companies are keen to employ staff trained in emerging technology trends.

"There is a distinct lack of good, technically trained staff who also have business acumen and are good at dealing with end users, so we are placing a lot more onus on this in our business," he added.

"There is a real virtualisation skills gap as the technology has only been around for four or five years. A Citrix consultant in the past would have been paid around £30,000, but now they will be offered about £90,000 because there is such a big demand.

"The jobs market has not caught up with emerging technology yet."