The
shortage of IT graduates is becoming an "alarming" problem for
some employers and needs action by government, members of the
Conservative Technology Forum said at a Conservative conference
fringe meeting yesterday.
Ericsson's chief technology officer in the UK, John Cunliffe,
said about 50% of new graduates in the company's British workforce
now need work permits. He said, "We are worried they will not stay
very long - two to three years - before moving on, and sometimes it
is difficult for them to get visas."
He said the company did not take on any graduates after the
dot.com bubble burst in 2000, but started recruiting again about
three years ago. He said, "We have found it quite difficult. It is
a pity, because we have always prided ourselves on the people we
have recruited in the past.
"Demand for ICT skills has risen fairly steeply, but since the
year 2000 there has been a real dive in the number of people taking
ICT courses. This might be partly because of the association with
failed projects, and it is also because it is seen as a 'boring'
subject. It is a real shame."
He said the telecoms company is increasingly looking for
managers as lower level work is outsourced to countries with
cheaper labour.
It has led to further problems, as managers, who used to be
recruited as lower-level staff climbed the ladder, are now harder
to come by.
He said, "There is a lot of
ICT work being offshored to low-cost countries. This changes
the nature of the people we employ. We need managers and
supervisors, who traditionally came up through the ranks. It makes
you wonder where the CIOs of the future are going to come from? We
need the leaders.
"It is not a terrible thing, but we need to recognise it is
happening and encourage young people to take up the career."
Malcolm Harbour, West Midlands MEP, said, "There are truly
alarming figures about the number of people applying to do IT.
"The message coming clearly through is that we do not just need
a generation who know how to use computers, but we need far more
people who understand the technology behind them. It is a creative
business, building these new systems. We have to transmit the whole
creative force behind technology and engage young people in
it."
Susan Pointer, director of public policy and government
relations for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Google, said the
company works hard to attract the best staff, and focuses on the
creative side of IT work to do so.
She said, "We do not look at the quality of people out there,
but ask how we can position ourselves to attract the best people.
This can be as simple as creating similar working environments to
the ones they flourished in at university."
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