Many Employers within the IT field have taken to outsourcing certain IT jobs abroad, and although this undoubtedly is an effective way to decrease the wage outlay during the harder economic climate, is this because there is a lack of skill base within the UK?
A survey conducted in November 2004 predicted the economic downturn and claimed the UK basic IT skills would have been a contributing factor to this crisis. Over a quarter of businesses surveyed by a fixed fee recruitment agency found that their work force lacked basic skills such as word processing, and almost two thirds of IT companies said they had been delayed in development due to a skill gap and had spent over 6 months trying to fill a vacancy.
Today’s job market is incredibly tough but the basic IT skills in the UK have improved over the last four years through retraining and development of staff and an improvement of IT skills basic training within schools. The higher skilled end of the IT job market is still competitive and does not appear to suffer from a lack of skill base with an average of over 20 applicants to the correct skill standard per job in the IT sector, although many types of jobs appear to be clustered in particular regions of the UK and perhaps this leads employers to feel there is a lack of skill in particular areas of the UK.
Castle Hill House