Some skills shortages identified by the Government, and thus
eligible for the fast track work permit scheme, can be filled by
British IT staff.
On the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) website,
skills such as Java/Java Script, Perl/Perl Script, Active Server
Pages/Active X, and XML/DHTML are listed as being in "particularly
short supply" at present in the information technology,
communication and electronics sectors. Also mentioned are Oracle,
SQL Server, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Peoplesoft, all customer
relationship management skills and computer telephony Integration
packages such as Siebel.
It is primarily to gain these skills that the Government has
radically revised its work permit process for qualified
non-European Union workers over the past year.
But Mark I'Anson, commercial director of Computer People, notes
that while demand for many of the DfEE-mentioned technologies is
greater than supply in the UK at present, skills such as Oracle and
Visual Basic can be found within the UK.
Computer Futures managing director John Pullan agrees. "There is
no need for us to recruit abroad to find suitably qualified staff
with Oracle skills, for example, " he says. "However, the majority
of the skills mentioned above are definitely in short supply in the
UK, particularly those that are Java related." Being emerging
technologies, CRM and CTI packages are in demand around the world,
adds Pullan, while SQL Server and Peoplesoft are needed to a lesser
extent.
And while the Government continues to encourage tens of
thousands of qualified non-EU workers to come to Britain, the
latest Computer Weekly / SSP salary survey indicates that the
number of jobs available in the industry overall is declining.
According to industry analyst Nicholas Enticknap, the third quarter
2000 figure of 21,000 jobs advertised is the lowest level recorded
since the beginning of 1994, and is 42 per cent down on the third
quarter of 1999.
While the results are based on an analysis of print
advertisements only, and do not include vacancies posted on the
internet, Enticknap notes that web-based skills are the only ones
showing "significant growth". Demand for commonplace client/server
skills are declining by typically between 40 - 60 per cent, he
adds: "This category includes C++, Oracle, Sybase, Visual Basic and
Windows NT."
E-commerce minister Patricia Hewitt recently returned from an
official visit to India to promote links between Indian and British
business leaders, particularly in the IT sector. "India is set to
become one of the largest and most exciting knowledge-driven
economies of the 21st Century," she said.
Despite denials by the Department of Trade and Industry that
Hewitt had gone to India on a recruitment drive for IT workers, she
was quoted in a Reuters report as having asked Indian technology
companies and professionals to choose to work in Britain rather
than the US. "My message to India's ICE (information,
communications, entertainment) companies is very simple. Think of
us first."