“Too many bog-standard IT staff” causing digital skills gap, says expert

The growing digital sector in the North is at risk as colleges churn out too many sub-par IT support staff, and too few developers and “digital pioneers”, according to new analysis from a think-tank.

Experts at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North analysed job vacancy shortages in the digital sector, using data from Emsi and Burning Glass. The findings included that there is a real shortage of digital skills in roles where a higher education level qualification is needed – these roles require advanced mathematical and/or scientific skills, not just IT proficiency.

However, there is no shortage of applicants with further education (college-level) qualifications in digital skills which typically lead to poorly-paid IT support jobs.

“Turbulence” in the further education system, a lack of students taking up top apprenticeships, and a failure to embed IT across the National Curriculum are all causes of the looming crisis, the study finds.

The report warns that national policy is too inflexible to deal with specific local skills challenges, and recommends councils and employers work with colleges to develop digital training to meet local demand, which varies hugely from area to area.

Likewise, the National Curriculum must include digital skills throughout the whole curriculum and not just in IT lessons – for example, by teaching coding skills as part of Mathematics.

It also suggests that as and when free movement ends, immigration policy prioritises highly-skilled digital entrepreneurs above lower-skilled migration, as part of the Government’s ‘Global Britain’ efforts.

Grace Blakeley, report author and researcher at IPPR North, said: “Sadly we’re training too few digital leaders and too many bog-standard IT staff, without the proper skills to meet the challenges and opportunities of the digital revolution.

“Instead we need to see many more highly-skilled web developers with skills in complex areas like advanced mathematics to deal with the rise of the robots, and for all of us to have the digital skills to do our jobs – whether that’s a small business owner marketing online, or a doctor analysing data from patients’ wearable tech.

“As free movement comes to an end, to build a ‘Global Britain’, we have a real opportunity to offer visas for highly-skilled digital leaders to power the UK’s tech industry as part of a more regional immigration system.

“We also need to see colleges, councils and businesses taking control of skills strategies: Whitehall policy is just too detached from local job market needs to meet the challenge of the ‘fourth industrial revolution’.”