Patricia Hewitt explains the importance of the Best Places to Work
in IT awards.
The IT sector employs more than a million people in the UK, and is
one of the success stories of our economy over the past 10 years.
Almost all of the world's leading IT companies have a base here,
with many making the UK their first stop in Europe.
The IT sector in the UK has attracted some of the biggest companies
in the business and it offers opportunities for all types of firms
- large and small. Some 95,000 software and IT services companies
contribute to the sector, which is not only important in its own
right, but to organisations in every other sector as well.
Employers in the UK clearly know that IT is vital to almost
everything they do, from marketing to share trading, purchasing to
data management. And each company usually has its IT department to
thank when technology makes the jobs and lives of its employees
easier - for example, by allowing people to work from home or on
the move, or enabling staff to share work with colleagues in
different buildings, cities and countries.
So it is great that these awards recognise the very best places to
work in IT in the UK. Many factors make somewhere a great place to
work - the opportunities available to staff, a culture that
develops people's skills, and an employer who values their
employees' work/life balance, among other things.
For people who work in IT, the best employers are also quick to
grasp new technology and innovate, not afraid to give their staff
new challenges and to make IT integral to the core business of
their organisation.
Of course, there are still challenges for IT employers to meet if
they want to remain one of the most progressive sectors to work in
and to attract the best graduates. For example, I still want to see
more women working in IT.
If more employers embraced the work/life balance agenda, people
development and commitment to equal opportunities demonstrated by
these winners, the sector will undoubtedly continue to thrive.
To get the best people these days, employers are increasingly
realising that they have to draw on the widest possible talent pool
and that means being flexible, dynamic and open to all.
I am delighted that so many companies are represented in these
awards, and that they come from such a broad spectrum of UK
business. People in IT know that the innovative practices of today
become the industry standard of tomorrow.
These employers know that applies just as much to the people they
employ as to the technology and systems they use. With that in
mind, I congratulate the winners.
Patricia Hewitt is secretary of state for
trade and industry