Our latest research, published today, shows employment in the IT & Telecoms industry is set to grow at 5 times the national average over the next decade, playing a vital role in underpinning economic recovery.
The research, ‘Technology Insights 2011’, shows that demand for IT professionals has increased over the last year. 1.5 million people are currently employed in the IT workforce – equivalent to 1 in every 20 people employed in the UK. Of these, 40% are employed in the IT & Telecoms industry itself, while the remainder are spread across every other sector of the economy.
Employment growth
And this demand is set to continue. Employment in the IT & Telecoms industry over the next decade is forecast to grow at 2.19% per annum, nearly five times faster than the UK average, with over half a million new IT & Telecoms professionals needed over the next five years.
This year alone, the IT & Telecoms workforce will require 110,000 new entrants to keep up with demand. Almost half of these will be individuals employed in other occupations moving into IT & Telecoms, while 17% will need to come directly from education.
Workforce profile
But the research identifies some worrying trends. The proportion of IT professionals under 30 has declined from 33% in 2001 to only 19% in 2010, as the sector increasingly favours experienced workers from other sectors over young recruits from the education system. At the same time, the proportion of those over 50 has almost doubled to 17%.
It also shows that gender remains a significant issue with women making up just 18% of the IT professional workforce.
£50 billion uplift
The report demonstrates that technology is the most powerful lever the UK can employ to drive growth and innovation across the whole economy.
Whilst the IT & Telecoms industry alone already contributes £81 billion per annum to the UK economy, 9% of gross value added, ‘Technology Insights’ finds that by exploiting the full potential of technology, the rest of the UK economy could be boosted by an additional £50 billion over the next 5 to 7 years.
Find out more and download the full reports here