IT departments will need to invest more in training
their staff despite a slowdown in demand for IT professionals, the
latest jobs market research by E-Skills UK has
revealed.
The sector skills council's ICT Inquiry found that demand for IT
staff fell between the end of 2004 and the first quarter of 2005,
with fewer firms reporting difficulties finding skilled people.
Despite this, about 6,000 firms across the UK are having
difficulty recruiting IT staff, equivalent to a shortage of 9,000
positions, the research suggested.
At the same time, employers will demand more in-depth technical
skills from their existing IT workforce, propelling the proportion
of professionals with higher-level skills from 57% currently to 75%
by 2008.
The trend is driven by the growth of outsourcing, which is
leading to lower-level IT skills being transferred offshore, and
creating a demand for higher-level technical and managerial skills
in-house.
As a result, employers will need to continue to invest in
training their staff, despite recent declines in overall demand for
IT staff and evidence of receding skills shortages.
"Although to an extent the skills shortage position is
improving, we still have a significant proportion of companies with
a skills gap," said Peter Hounsome, who compiled the research for
E-Skills UK. "Companies are looking for IT staff to hold much
higher levels of skills in the future. We need to make sure we
address existing skills and skills gaps of the future."
Demand for IT professionals with higher-level skills will grow
by about 20% within three years for those specialising in
networking and database design and development, the research
predicted. The proportion of staff in technical support roles with
higher level skills will rise from 35% to 80%, and the proportion
of programmers with high level skills will grow from 26% to
63%.
The proportion of IT staff with expert management skills is
expected to increase from 15% to 20% by 2008. The proportion with
higher-level management skills will grow from 45% to 63%.
Nearly 50% of IT staff will need higher levels of sales and
marketing skills by 2008, a shift that could require major
retraining. The largest demand for sales skills will come from
internet professionals, programmers and database staff.
Interpersonal skills and customer handling skills will also
become more important, the research reveals.
"Although the figures show significant training and development
is required, the situation is even more pronounced for smaller and
micro organisations," said Hounsome.
Additional work needs to be done by E-Skills and businesses to
ensure organisations have the required business planning in place,
to anticipate their future skills requirements, he said.