{"id":21867,"date":"2018-08-01T09:30:57","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T09:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnet-training.com\/us\/?p=21867"},"modified":"2019-11-26T14:16:37","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T14:16:37","slug":"latest-skills-bulletin-highlights-the-cost-of-tech-job-vacancies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnet-training.com\/us\/news\/latest-skills-bulletin-highlights-the-cost-of-tech-job-vacancies\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest Skills Bulletin Highlights the Cost of Tech Job Vacancies"},"content":{"rendered":"

600,000 tech job vacancies costing UK economy \u00a363 billion a year<\/strong><\/p>\n

An estimated 600,000 vacancies in digital technology are costing the country \u00a363 billion a year[1], according to information provided by tech UK in a report on skills shortages published today (1 August 2018) by the Edge Foundation.<\/p>\n

The second of the education charity\u2019s bulletins on the UK\u2019s skills shortages, shines a spotlight on the tech industry and the devastating economic impact of the government\u2019s failure to encourage young people to study relevant subjects and upskill existing workers.<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s author, Edge\u2019s Director of Policy and Research, Olly Newton, commented:<\/p>\n

\u2018This bulletin highlights the urgent need for digital and technical subjects to be at the core of our national curriculum to ensure a talent pipeline for the future. If things continue as they are, in a couple of years there will be 1 million tech vacancies in the UK and yet the number of students taking IT and computing GCSEs in schools has fallen by almost 15,000 (11 per cent) in the last year alone[2]\n

\u2018We are currently relying on the talent and skills of people coming from abroad, but clearly with Brexit on the horizon we need a new strategy.\u2019<\/p>\n

The bulletin, Skills Shortages in the UK Economy, brings together the most current statistics and analysis of skills shortages in the UK which cost the economy \u00a36.3 billion each year in direct costs such as recruitment and temporarily filling gaps, according to the Open University\u2019s 2018 Business Barometer.<\/p>\n

Shadow Skills Minister, Gordon Marsden, commented:<\/p>\n

\u2018These reports provide a robust and thorough analysis of the state of our employment market which can help to inform policy. The scale of skills shortages in the UK is alarming, especially so when you consider that over half-a-million of our young people aged 16-24 are not in education, employment or training.\u2019<\/p>\n

The report says clearer career pathways into digital technology are especially important for girls and women. Only 17 per cent of the UK\u2019s IT specialists are female meaning we are barely tapping into half of our potential workforce. India Lucas is Skill, Talent & Diversity Policy Manager for techUK which represents around the tech workforce in the UK. She commented:<\/p>\n

\u2018In a sector like tech, where we already have a critical digital skills shortage, we simply cannot sit by as large groups of society become alienated from our sector. Tech cannot innovate if the minds behind it all think, act and look the same \u2013 diversity breeds innovation. We need to improve the representation of women and other groups in tech and much of this work starts in schools.<\/p>\n

\u2018We must do more to demystify the tech sector to students, teachers and parents; providing students with an insight into how our sector works in practice and one way of achieving this is through quality careers guidance and mandatory work experience.\u2019<\/p>\n

In the UK data center sector, at least one in five key technical roles are filled by non-British staff and employers say that the prospect of Britain leaving the EU is already making it difficult to attract EU staff.<\/p>\n

Andrew Stevens, President and CEO of CNet Training, said:
\n\u2018We have a shortage of data center specific skills driven by rapid technological development, a labour shortage as qualified people are drawn away by more well-known sectors such as manufacturing and construction, and a diversity problem in that our labour pool is limited and without a dedicated pipeline.<\/p>\n

\u2018The responses must come from a collaboration between industry apprenticeship providers, higher and vocation education, schools and industry representative groups.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Edge Foundation is calling on the Department for Education and BEIS to develop a comprehensive strategy to ensure young people are equipped with the skills 21st century industry is calling for, including:<\/p>\n