Downturn fuels UK IT skills gap
Gareth Morgan, Computing, Thursday 9 July 2009 at 16:52:00
A fifth of firms lack the IT skills they need, says research
More than a fifth of firms say they lack the IT skills needed for their businesses to thrive, according to research.
The recession has exacerbated the impact of the IT skills shortage, with more than one in seven IT managers reporting that job losses have left them with a skills deficit.
The research, commissioned by Vodafone, suggests that 40 per cent of IT workers are suffering stress from having to learn new skills needed to minimise the impact of staff cuts where they work.
And the study indicates that nearly three quarters of firms (71 per cent) have scaled back or completely stopped investing in staff development.
This has to be addressed urgently, said Karen Price, chief executive of IT sector skills council e-Skills UK. She said that for the sake of their future prosperity, business leaders need to continue to invest in the professional development of retained staff.
“The UK was undergoing a far-reaching skills shift even before the skills impact of the recession is taken into account,” said Price.
“There is a shorter-term need to help recession-hit IT professionals adapt to rapid changes in their day-to-day roles and responsibilities.”
 |
 |
Full published article at: http://feeds.computing.co.uk/c/554/f/10981/s/535ddab/l/0L0Scomputing0O0Ccomputing0Cnews0C22457920Cdownturn0Efuels0Euk0Eskills0Ecrisis/story01.htm
July 10th, 2009 at 12:07 am
When you use the phrase “labor shortage” or “skills shortage” you’re speaking in a sentence fragment. What you actually mean to say is: “There is a labor shortage at the salary level I’m willing to pay.” That statement is the correct phrase; the complete sentence, the intellectually honest statement.
If you start raising your wages and improving working conditions, and continue to do so, you’ll solve your “shortage” and will have people lining up around the block to work for you even if you need to have huge piles of steaming manure hand-scooped on a blazing summer afternoon.
Re: Shortage due to retirees: With the majority of retirement accounts down about 50% or more, people entering retirement age are being forced to work well into their sunset years. So, you won’t be getting a worker shortage anytime soon due to retirees exiting the workforce.
Okay, fine. Some specialized jobs require training and/or certification, again, raise your wages and improve benefits! You’ll incentivize people to self-fund their education so that they can enter the industry in a work-ready state. The attractive wages, working conditions and career prospects of technology during the 1980’s and 1990’s was a prime example of people’s willingness to fund their own education.