More gifted techies from overseas would benefit IT jobs market, says Autonomy CEO

Mike Lynch says UK must do more to lure would-be IT entrepreneurs from abroad

The best way to increase the number of IT entry-level jobs in the UK is to encourage highly skilled people from abroad to settle here, according to Mike Lynch, CEO and founder of Autonomy.

Attending an Intellect conference in London yesterday, Lynch was asked whether the best way to boost the IT jobs market was to have more IT companies headquartered in the UK.

Lynch, whose company is based in Cambridge, agreed, but added that the best way to do this would be to encourage highly skilled people from overseas to work here.

"A large number of the entrepreneurs that start businesses in Silicon Valley are from other countries," he said. "We need to be looking to encourage very highly skilled people to come over here in the same way that they might go over to the US; we need to let them know that this is a good place to live. This would generate lots of entry-level jobs."

Lynch said the government's immigration cap is dissuading entrepreneurs from coming to this country and is therefore hindering job creation.