There is a huge digital skills gap in the UK, and more candidates need to have the necessary technical skills to fill vacant roles, says Sarah Jane Riggott.

The natural knock-on effect is already being seen across the entire technology industry, with some key vacancies remaining unfilled for long periods.

Currently, recruitment is challenging, and there is a lot of competition for suitable candidates. This lack of digital skills is estimated to have cost the UK economy more than £12 billion.

The problem is pronounced across the whole of the UK. In government, The National Audit Office (NAO) has warned that worsening skill shortages threaten the Cabinet Office’s recently created Central Digital and Data Office’s delivery of its goals of addressing digital transformational challenges.

The NAO report said only four percent of civil servants are digital professionals, compared with an average of between eight percent and 12 percent in other sectors. It noted that a significant skills shortage was affecting the whole of the UK, that the number of government digital vacancies rose from 3,900 in April 2022 to 4,100 in October, and that 37 percent of recruitment campaigns were unsuccessful. The report concluded, “There is an unprecedented level of private sector demand in all industrial nations and a major digital skills shortage in the UK.”

Recent research by Gallup and Amazon Web Services has found that 72 percent of businesses in the UK have vacancies for workers with digital skills, and more than 68 percent are finding it challenging to hire the digital workers they require. 45 percent of these businesses attribute these numbers to a shortage of qualified applicants.

People with digital skills earn more

There’s no doubt that the digital skills gap in the UK is pronounced. Covid rapidly accelerated digital adoption as everyone was forced online, and many businesses woke up to the benefits of digital. Since then, demand for emerging technologies has increased ahead of the skills required to deliver them.

And the enticement is undoubtedly there. The NAO study stated that UK workers with advanced digital skills earn 30 percent more than those with none and that “People with digital skills command a premium in the market.”

Defining Digital

The Government National Careers Services defines “essential digital skills include being able to: use devices like a computer, tablet or mobile phone for simple, personal and work tasks. find and use information on the internet. understand how to be safe and responsible online. communicate socially and professionally using email, messaging and social media.”

These are basic digital skills required for most professions. Young people are more exposed to digital than ever before, through the use of personal devices such as phones and tablets. Throughout early years education they are required to use the internet for research and computers for word processing and other packages. They are taught best practice and how to be safe online.

The true digital skills gap is beyond these essential skills, it is the advanced skills, that may require specific training or link to other areas such as data interpretation, being able to get the most out of a system and reap the benefits of automated processes. Understanding how to go paper free and the benefits it brings.

There is funding available for digital bootcamps which cover a range of area. Many teach coding, but in isolation this provides limited benefit. Individuals need to know how to apply their learning, what it means, how it relates to a role or career path.

The technology skills gap I s is more specific to sought after skills in cyber security, big data, technical architecture and development.

The UKs technological advancement is held back by a skill shortage, but by categorising this under the umbrella of digital skills, we are not addressing the specific technical skills shortage.

How can we increase digital skills?

To understand how to solve the issue, we need to know how it started. Since 2015, the number of young people taking IT subjects at the GCSE level has dropped by 40 percent. In the technology sector, about 50 percent of women quit their jobs before age 35 and are also abandoning their jobs at a 45 percent higher rate than the men in their industry. All these factors have combined to create a severe skills shortage.
Getting young people interested and adequately prepared for technology careers is vital to creating a healthy, flourishing market. They don’t just need the technical skills. CV writing and fluency in interviews are also essential to not only get the right person in the correct position but to also keep them in the roles when they’ve got them. Many candidates just aren’t being taught these skills.

At Roq we pride ourselves on being selective and finding the best candidates for the right job. Faced with an increasingly demanding job market, we are determined to maintain its standards. So, we decided to get proactive and developed the Roq Quality Engineering Academy.

Developing best practice skills

The Academy trains cohorts through its accredited courses. Over the last 18 months, there have been three intakes of graduates and apprentices. The courses develop best practice skills in software testing and offers an internationally industry-recognised certificate from the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB).

The apprenticeship intake was part of Roq’s first level four apprenticeship qualification in Software Testing, launched in January 2023, focusing on people returning to the tech industry, people changing jobs, and people wanting to enter the technology industry as a career change. The Academy has been working closely with job centres, the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), the Armed Forces Covenant and various community groups and educational organisations to ensure the initial intake of apprentices came from a diverse and inclusive range of backgrounds.

Roq is also involved with schools, colleges and universities – we run ‘Defectives’ competitions to introduce students to a career in Quality Engineering. It is also attending careers fairs and carrying out school visits and building closer links with UK educational institutions.

More than education

At Roq we aren’t just thinking about education – we are preparing our people for vibrant roles in a competitive jobs market and giving them what they need from a soft skills perspective to leave our customers in a better place.

But education and training are only one element of the skills crisis. A lot of work is now being outsourced to overseas companies, and the UK needs to invest in its talent.

We intend to keep skilled workers in the UK by creating an inspiring, motivating work atmosphere; with award nominations, our most recent IIP Platinum accreditation, and maintaining a supportive work environment. This, along with constant training and skills updating, will mean much higher future employee retention and upskilling rates.

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Sarah Jane Riggott is Head of People at Roq.