Firms must improve IT staff skills

Skills body urges an increase in employer training

UK companies must increase the number of IT staff with higher-level expertise to avoid a looming skills shortage, warns sector skills council e-Skills UK.

Research from the organisation identifies gaps between the existing technical capability levels of IT staff compared with the skills that employers will require over the next three years.

‘The clear message is that UK organisations have quite a large up-skilling requirement for their IT staff,’ said Peter Hounsome, e-Skills UK head of research.

Some 57 per cent of IT staff working for the 800 IT and human resource managers interviewed for the survey, have technical skills at a ‘higher level or above’. But by 2008 these companies will need 75 per cent of staff to be highly skilled.

Areas where staff will be in most demand include operations strategy and planning, systems development and design, programming, database proficiencies and networking.

‘The key to the future of the UK’s economy is investment in human capital,’ said Nick Isles, associate policy director at non-profit industry body The Work Foundation. ‘Employers should be looking to get their people equipped to use technology so they can be more effective and productive in their roles generally.’