This week we reveal that supermarket chain Somerfield is
joining the growing group of UK businesses that are moving IT
functions overseas.
IT analyst group Gartner describes offshore outsourcing as a
"must do" for major UK IT user organisations, and expects the
market to grow by more than 40% this year. But trade unions and
others have raised warning voices over potential job losses and the
need to retain skills in the UK. So should we be worried by this
stampede offshore?
No, as long as the existing rules are not abused.
For UK businesses, the attractions of offshore outsourcing are
obvious and compelling. Access to high-quality technical staff with
key skills at a significantly lower cost than in the UK, and the
ability to provide 24x7 support, are advantages that few UK firms
can afford to ignore.
One of the benefits of a global economy is that activities can
be carried out where it is most economic and effective to do so. If
UK firms fail to take advantage of this they will simply put
themselves at a competitive disadvantage.
Of course, there can be moral arguments against shifting work
overseas. But we are not talking here about sweatshops or child
labour. In India, which has 80% of the global offshore outsourcing
market, the IT workforce is an elite group and the IT industry
attracts some of the brightest graduates.
Rather than desperately trying to hang on to every domestic
programming and support job - the prime areas for outsourcing - we
should be ensuring that we are building a UK IT workforce with the
skills needed in the 21st century. Despite the slowdown in IT
development, there is a strong demand for people who combine an
understanding of technology with other general business skills. The
need for these "hybrid" IT professionals is likely to grow rapidly
as the economy picks up, more than compensating for the jobs
transferred overseas.
There are encouraging signs, such as the work being conducted by
E-Skills UK with universities to develop a new IT curriculum
comprising technical, business and communications skills in equal
measure. Some of the more forward-thinking UK businesses are taking
steps to develop their IT workforce, for example by identifying
those with the potential and giving them a combination of training
and experience in other parts of the business to broaden their
skills.
But most UK businesses are still showing little interest in
helping to identify and plan for these emerging skills shortages.
This, rather than the growth in offshore outsourcing, is the
biggest threat to the future of the UK IT workforce.