There is always a scarcity of global tech talents, but today the gap is much more than ever. According to our research, 69% of UK employers are struggling to find skilled workers. Digital teams are unable to keep up with the rate of change in UK tech because of a lack of available skills. It makes sense when many companies increasingly turn to tech solutions and digitize themselves to address their current business challenges. The UK tech sector is in the midst of a talent shortage, with experts citing a lack of skilled professionals as a major impediment to growth. However, the number of software engineers available isn’t growing as much as the demand for them is. If so, businesses need to do more than solve the problem in the long run.
In this article, we will go through the top reasons causing tech talent shortages in the United Kingdom and provide you with 4 practical tactics you can apply to deal with the issue. Nevertheless, the UK’s tech talent shortfall is now posing a danger to growth. In fact, the tech business had more open positions than any other industry in the past year. Additionally, a recent survey found that nearly a quarter of women leaving the technology sector in Scotland do so because they are put off by the lack of diversity in the workforce.
What factors cause the high demand and low supply of IT talent in the United Kingdom?
It’s estimated that there will be a global shortage of more than 37 million qualified workers in 2022. If the UK labour market cannot attract enough IT expertise, this may lose out on £12.8 billion in annual revenues. It is also reported that many IT executives identify talent shortages as the most significant barrier to adopting emerging technologies, ahead of cost and security.
Here are the top reasons causing the high demand and low supply of tech talent in the United Kingdom:
- The high competitiveness in recruitment among businesses and many tech powerhouses like Google, Microsoft, Meta, Apple and many more.They are tech industry pioneers and always go first when looking for the greatest IT employees, offering competitive pay and top-notch benefits. Additionally, it has increased the pay expectations of local tech talent, resulting in higher hiring and retention costs for businesses.
- The labour market grapples with the lack of domestic tech talent. The IT industry in the UK has not invested enough resources into IT education and training, resulting in a lack of IT professionals with the essential skills. For example, only 5% of IT graduates come from computer science degrees each year, according to the British Computer Society. As a result, the competitive market for IT talent is unable to satisfy the needs of IT enterprises in terms of both number and quality.
- Employers face problems filling vacancies when baby boomers aged 65 and older begin to retire. There were 3.3 million, or 7%, more retirees as of October 2021 than there were in January 2020. It goes without saying that firms will require a solid staffing plan to replace current employees.
- Another issue contributing to a skilled IT professional shortage is reluctance. The majority of employees aren’t prepared to improve their skills in order to manage future jobs connected to automation technologies like AI, machine learning, and other advanced tools. As a result, the labour market now requires more highly qualified workers, such as engineers and scientists.
3 practical tactics to overcome the UK tech talent shortages:
Businesses may struggle to innovate if they can’t get the talent needed to create their software solutions, which would harm the diversity and dynamism of the entire business environment.
The question is: Is there a way to deal with the skill deficit in development? There will be no one-size-fits-all response to this question, as many approaches to coping with a talent shortage. In this blog’s scope, we’ll give you 3 key strategies for overcoming this shortcoming.
Training and upskilling for internal talents
The first solution is training and upskilling internal employees. Training and upskilling are two of the most important IT strategies that companies can use to overcome IT personnel shortages. By providing development courses and other educational resources, they could help current IT employees learn new IT skills and build a more competent IT team. Moreover, dedicating a budget to keep your IT staff engaged is a great way to increase job satisfaction and increase IT staff retention.
For example, as part of its Upskilling 2025 pledge, Amazon has set an upskilling roadmap for more than 300,000 employees with a budget of $1.2 billion for free training programs by 2025. On top of that, this approach also helps the company become more attractive to job applicants.
Improve employee benefits to attract and retain employees
The second measure to address IT talent shortages is to improve employee benefits. This necessitates determining the intersection between what you require, the type of talent accessible, new technology developments, and the budget available for the role. Offering a high salary is no longer sufficient in today’s world. IT professionals, like any other workers, are looking for an attractive blend of benefits that will make them feel valued by the company. IT firms should therefore strive to build a comprehensive IT skills and development program for employees, along
For instance, Pinterest has revised its paid paternity leave and fertility plans in an attempt to retain staff. Finder has announced additional 5-day leaves in the interim.
IT Staff Augmentation as a Solution
Staff Augmentation is the new normal. Leveraging offshore outsourcing, nearshore, and remote talent pools is one of the most promising strategies to balance the talent shortage in the UK, especially when a company demands highly-skilled workers.
Given the state of the IT hiring market, IT staff augmentation may present a viable solution to the UK’s tech talent shortage. IT staff augmentation refers to the process of bringing in external IT professionals with specific skill sets and experience to fill immediate needs in an organisation while still allowing the IT department to maintain its core competencies. Staff augmentation can help businesses rapidly scale their IT teams without having to train and source new IT personnel. This approach eliminates the need for large IT departments, which can be costly and time-consuming to maintain. IT staff augmentation can also help organisations create more diverse IT teams, leading to higher levels of innovation and productivity. IT staff augmentation can also help IT departments stay agile and keep pace with the changing IT landscape.
IT staff augmentation also allows IT departments to quickly respond to changing needs, such as the adoption of new technologies and platforms or changes in customer requirements. The advantages IT staff augmentation offers include increased efficiency and cost savings, shorter time-to-market, a large pool of talent, scalability on demand, and access to experts in IT. IT staff augmentation is a viable solution that can help close the IT talent gap in the UK, while still allowing IT departments to remain agile and efficient.
By leveraging IT staff augmentation, businesses can not only meet their needs but also retain their talented IT professionals for longer periods of time. Staff augmentation can help IT departments innovate, stay competitive, and remain agile in a rapidly changing IT landscape. Staff augmentation offers an effective way to address the IT talent shortage in the UK and ensure that businesses remain competitive.
Conclusion
With the introduction of automation and the start of the digital revolution, the gap between the number of open positions and the shortage of technical skills has grown significantly . In order to find qualified software engineers, businesses must act now to address a software developer shortage in the United Kingdom. IT firms should strive to create employee benefits that will make IT professionals feel valued, as well as leverage IT staff augmentation solutions in order to quickly fill IT positions. IT staff augmentation can provide IT departments with access to experts in IT, scalability on demand, and increased efficiency and cost savings.
We at the 9NEXUS help our partners vertically grow their teams by increasing workforce, adding job functions, and dynamically adding technologies. Businesses only realise how resilient and future-proof they are once they have a team in place. Staff Augmentation allows you to find thousands of professionals in practically any technology, from the most cutting-edge technologies to the most basic. As a result, you get a significant competitive edge because no one else is able to fill tech positions quickly while you do. For UK businesses, combining IT staff augmentation with offshore outsourcing is a terrific method to improve their access to a large talent pool without incurring a hefty cost. These services enable businesses to discover highly qualified tech employees at a fraction of the expense of hiring new permanent staff.
For more detailed information, please contact a professional in the field for advice. If you have any questions or would like to explore the options available, please contact us today and we’ll be happy to discuss further.
Key Takeaways
- IT staff retention is one way to address the IT talent shortage in the UK. Companies should invest in upskilling and employee benefits to retain IT professionals.
- IT Staff Augmentation is a viable solution that can help close the IT talent gap in the UK, while still allowing IT departments to remain agile and efficient.
- IT Staff Augmentation can help IT departments innovate, stay competitive, and remain agile in a rapidly changing IT landscape. It is an effective way to address the IT talent shortage in the UK and ensure that businesses remain competitive.
