Zeeshan Anwar, board member of the FCSA, shares his insight into how the UK can confront the UK tech skills crisis, and the solutions which will help develop a strong talent pool and match up businesses with suitable candidates.

How can IT contractors help solve the UK tech skills crisis?

146% increase in IT skills gaps since 2016, according to Skillsoft’s Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report

In recent years, it has become clear that the UK is suffering a crisis in skills, with many highly skilled workers retiring and a lack of younger talent ready to take over. The skills gap is very acutely felt in the IT sector, where there is a particular shortage of workers with the necessary technological skills. Leaders in digital fields across the world are facing recruitment issues and talent shortages, and the best prospective employees are highly sought after. 

Research carried out by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters – in conjunction with online recruitment specialists Totaljobs and Jobsite – confirmed that over 50% of technology employers feel that candidates for IT roles lack necessary skills. More than a quarter have noticed that they are having to compete for the best candidates, who receive multiple job offers. Of the technology professionals surveyed, 56% named cybersecurity and 41% Business Intelligence and data management as the most in-demand skills.

76% of IT decision makers experience critical skills gaps in their team

Technological education company Skillsoft’s 2021 Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report included eye-opening evidence of the IT skills shortage, showing that more than three quarters of employers in the sector were facing serious difficulties in recruitment. This represents a 146% increase since 2016. This year, 54% of IT decision makers reported a lack of success in filling at least one vacant position, and 38% were trying to recruit for three or more empty posts. As a result of this highly competitive market, those with the most highly demanded skills, such as cybersecurity and cloud computing, can currently command very high salaries. 

How can employers solve the IT skills crisis?

Investing in IT skills training

Crucial to securing the future success of the technology industry will be the development of new talent. Investment from both the public and private sector in IT skills training for younger people is a vital long-term solution for ensuring that the talent shortage does not continue indefinitely. Providing opportunities for further training and professional development will also be a major draw for candidates who are keen to progress their careers, and can give companies a serious edge when competing for the best talent. The Skillsoft report also showed that nearly 40% of IT employers are not providing formal training opportunities for their employees. Equally worryingly, of those who left the industry in the last year, 59% cited a lack of training and development opportunities as a significant reason for doing so. If companies want to attract, retain and create top IT talent, this will need to change. 

Employing contractors

Employers would also benefit from being open to hiring contractors and freelancers to do technology-related work for them. The whole country has seen how the Covid-19 pandemic generated huge enthusiasm for more flexible working patterns, and also many people wanting to become self-employed or shake up their work routines. There is a significant pool of talented IT contractors in the UK, and hiring a contractor on a shorter term basis allows you to tap into that talent. It can be a much more cost-effective means of finding talent than trying to recruit someone for a permanent position.

Improving benefits for employees

The opportunity to work part-time, remotely or more flexibly is very attractive to many people, so using contractors can enable an employer to attract candidates who might not otherwise have been interested. Employers can look out for contractors who work with an umbrella company, who will deal with administrative and accounting matters. For businesses, the presence of a fully compliant umbrella company provides reassurance that all legal obligations and processes are fulfilled. 

Offering high salaries to IT professionals may work as a short-term strategy for attracting the most skilled candidates to your company. However, employers in the technology sector will need a more comprehensive and multi-faceted solution to retain staff and ensure that the next generation of technology experts have the skills they need in the long term. 

Encouraging under-represented groups in the IT industry

They will also need to encourage those from groups currently under-represented in the industry to get involved. This especially applies to women, since currently about 70% of IT roles are held by men, according to the Office of National Statistics. Hiring contractors can allow companies to access extremely talented IT professionals who are looking for more independence and flexibility. Taking the long view, investment in training and development will ensure the future of the workforce in the technology sector.

Zeeshan Anwar, Group Compliance Manager at Contractor Umbrella and board member of the FCSA

The hottest tech skills employers want in 2021

Tech Job Postings Are Nearing Pre-COVID Highs; Postings in Q3 Are Up 39% Over 2020

November 18, 2021: Job postings for tech-focused roles in the third quarter of 2021 were up 39% year-over-year, according to the Q3 Tech Job Report from tech career marketplace Dice.

Postings were flat quarter-over-quarter (Q2 to Q3), and were also flat against the third quarter of 2019, near the recent tech job posting highwater mark.

With seasonality taken into account, the data highlighted in Dice’s latest report presents a level of stabilization in the tech job market, as well as a near-complete recovery from a dip in volume forced by the pandemic.

“We continue to be encouraged by the outlook for the tech job market, as our data for the third quarter shows both the strength of the recovery from the pandemic – postings are up almost 40% over Q3 2020 – and that the market sits close to its previous pre-COVID high,” said Art Zeile, CEO of Dice.

“As organizations transition to a hybrid workplace model and make a push to transform products and solutions to reflect the new environment, the need for skilled technologists will only become more acute. We’re seeing those trends illustrated in this quarter’s report through a focus on hiring for cybersecurity, business analysts, program managers and product coordinators, among others.”

The Q3 Tech Job Report is Dice’s seventh quarterly tech job market update, based on an analysis of more than one million tech job postings.

Top Employers Continue Tech Hiring Increase in Q3

Though the tech hiring market has stabilized across many areas after the surge in Q2, most top employers increased their tech hiring in Q3. More than three-quarters of the top 50 companies (by tech job postings) boosted hiring, with only 18% decreasing their hunt for tech talent. Employers in the aerospace and defense industries, ecommerce and retail (Amazon, Target, Walmart), IT services (Infosys), health (Anthem Blue Cross) and fintech (FIS) all made the Top 10.

Top Tech Occupations: Front and Back-end Developers, Cybersecurity Engineers

When looking at job postings by occupation, hiring has largely remained at an elevated level for many technologist roles, including network engineer, program manager and computer support specialist roles. There were, however, areas of major posting growth in Q3, including roles for back-end developers (+79% QoQ), front-end developers (+33% QoQ) and cybersecurity engineers (+31% QoQ).

Fastest-Growing Tech Skills in Q3

Employers are looking for technologists who understand the core concepts of software development and project management, in addition to technical skills such as SQL, Java, Python and Linux. Many of the fastest-growing skills in Q3, including Docker (+31% QoQ), Azure (+12% QoQ) and Git (+10% QoQ), have an enormous impact on the web and cloud. Skills such as Tableau (+10% QoQ), Data Analysis (+7% QoQ) and Change Management (+6% QoQ) are all used by the managers who are guiding projects to completion.

Dice Tech Job Report Overview and Methodology: Dice analyzed more than one million tech job postings between July and September 2021 and compared that analysis to job posting data from April through July 2021, as well as historical trends (via Emsi Burning Glass). The report includes data and analysis on quarter-over-quarter percentage change by tech job posting volume, parsed by location, employer, occupation and skill. To gather our specific dataset, we filtered for “Information Technology” jobs with hours that fall under “Full Time,” “Part Time” and “Not Listed,” as well as job types that are categorized as “Permanent,” or “Not Listed.” The datasets used for the “Employers” section were gathered by using the above criteria, with an additional filter for job postings that only derive from employer sites.

Learn more on Dice Insights: Dice Q3 Tech Job Report: Continuing High Demand for Technologists