Technology workforce will boost UK’s economic recovery

Employment in the UK’s technology workforce has continued to increase, despite the recession - but continued investment in technology and technology skills are crucial to help the UK’s economic recovery.

New research by e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology, shows that a highly skilled technology workforce could be the solution to the UK’s economic recovery.

The research, ‘Technology Counts: IT & Telecoms Insights 2010’, shows that despite the recession, employment in the UK’s technology workforce has grown, with one in 18 people working in the UK employed in the sector. The IT & Telecoms professional workforce has grown at twice the UK average over the past eight years, to reach over 1.1 million people today, and even using conservative post-recession figures, the number of IT & Telecoms professionals employed is forecast to grow at an average of four times the UK rate over the next ten years.

Despite unemployment in the UK sitting at its highest level since the mid-1990s, ‘Technology Counts’ shows that a lack of applicants for technology positions with the required skills, qualifications or experience is a major problem for many employers. The IT & Telecoms professional workforce requires more than 110,000 new entrants each year, with the largest recruitment source (60,000) being people currently employed in other occupations. A further 21,000 will enter the workforce directly from education with the remainder, around 32,000, coming from elsewhere (eg re-entering the workforce after a career break, early retirement or unemployment). All of these people need the right mix of technical and business skills to make the most of current and emerging technology.

Karen Price, CEO of e-skills UK, said: “This research illustrates just how important technology is to the UK economy, and how technology will play a vital role in the UK’s economic recovery. Technology can help reduce costs and enable innovation, so continued investment into the sector, and into the skills of the people working in it, is essential for the UK’s economic future. The new National Skills Academy for IT, opening later this year, will play a significant role in helping people gain the technical and professional IT skills necessary to help secure the UK’s economic success.”

Larry Hirst, Chair of e-skills UK and Chair, IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “We are pleased to publish this new research from e-skills UK. Based on up-to-date, authoritative information, it demonstrates why decisive action on technology skills is one of the most effective ways to secure the long term economic stability of the UK. The research provides a comprehensive analysis of the current and future labour market conditions which can inform the priorities of government, employers and education providers.”

Technology is at the heart of the modern economy, supporting all organisations in every sector, and contributing more than 8% of the UK’s Gross Value Added. For example, technology underpins much of the public sector’s services, helping to increase efficiency, securely share information, reduce waste and increase national security. It has transformed the retail sector by improving productivity and increasing competition. And it is of particular importance to the UK’s creative industries, with software (including services, applications and computer games) producing almost half of the creative industries’ GVA contribution.

Paul Coby, Chair of the e-skills UK CIO Board, and CIO of BA, said: “Most of what we do in British Airways is supported and enabled in some way by technology systems. Our IT professionals are crucially important to our customers and our business and our future development. This research shows how continued targeted investment in technology and technology skills is essential to support all businesses in the UK to recover from the recession, and to become more globally competitive than ever.”

e-skills UK’s role is to ensure the UK has the skills it needs to compete effectively in the global digital economy. On the basis of this research, e-skills UK will continue to work with employers, government and educators across the four nations of the UK to achieve this. To download the research for free, please visit www.e-skills.com/insights2010