"Teamwork is particularly important in an object-oriented architecture," he said. "Thus, when hiring graduates, we emphasize their ability to work as a team."

Another level of communication skills is to understand business users, added Lee. Business analysis skill is critical for understanding business users' requirements, as are presentation skills for explaining technical concerns in laymen terms.

"The understanding of business is useful for working staff to anticipate users' needs," he said. "Since business and users' needs change constantly, if IT supports only users' requirements, we'll always be playing catch-up."

Stagg added that standard communication skills like writing reports, managing spreadsheets, or communicating with clients is lacking among the local IT workforce.

"I've interviewed people that are good with their technical skills, but they can't document reports. I'm spending an awful lot of time editing reports and approving emails before they are sent to clients."