BI report shows huge holes in IT knowledge

According to a recent report conducted by CBI/ Pearson, over half of businesses are running remedial IT courses to bring employees up to speed.

The survey, covering 566 employers with a collective 2.2 million employees ,highlights that many employers, although generally satisfied with their employees, are not satisfied with their level of IT skills. 51 per cent of businesses are now providing remedial IT training for adults in the workplace.



Graduates


Overall there was a good level of satisfaction with graduate IT skills, with 26 per cent of businesses describing themselves as very satisfied; 68 per cent were satisfied and only six per cent were unsatisfied. Despite the general overall satisfaction of graduate employers, five per cent of businesses had to undertake remedial numeracy training for their graduate recruits.



School leavers entering the work place also needed additional training to subsidise their IT skills, with 20 per cent of companies deeming it necessary to provide additional training. Contrasted to the 17 per cent of businesses offering remedial training to graduates, it seems that while IT skills in schools are not fully preparing students for the work place, neither are universities. 20 per cent of employers reported that team working amongst graduates was a less than satisfactory and that one fifth of graduates also had an issue with problem solving.



School Leavers



The report also exposed the fact that many young people are leaving school not only without adequate IT skills but also have serious shortfalls in their employability skills. It is not just a lack of technology skills that employers would like to see improved over the coming years- 70 per cent of those surveyed stated that they would like to see employability skills become embedded into the current curriculum to better prepare students for the workplace.



These skills, also known as ‘soft skills’ comprise of communication ability, problem solving team working, time management and attitude to work. Encouraging students to take part in work experience before entering into full time employment could also benefit both school leavers and workplaces alike.



Thirty per cent of those surveyed commented that they would also like to see the government encourage schools and high education faculties to place more emphasis on developing technology skills.



Keith Attwood, chair of CBI’s education and skills committee said “The education and training of our current workforce and future recruits to our workforce is central to economic recovery. It’s their skills and their creativity that will be at the heart of the recovery process. Long term economic success is inexplicably linked to a nation’s standard of education and skills.”


There is an increasing focus on training in the workplace, with over two fifths of companies are looking to increase their investment over the next year.



The future’s bright?



With many businesses steadily moving towards and into the IT sector, a lack of skilled workers threatens to leave many job openings empty.


A recent statement from eSkills UK reports that 1.5 million people are currently employed in the IT and Telecoms industry and that employment in these sectors will grow at 2.19 per cent per annum- that’s five times faster than the national average.


With the current ICT national curriculum under reform, one can only hope that there will be greater emphasis placed on this growing market within schools. 2014 will bring with it the new syllabus s the current system is to be scrapped in September this year.


So what will school do until 2014? Schools will still be required to teach ICT at all levels but for the time being, teachers will be given free reign over what is taught, rather than the government. This ‘open source curriculum’ will be closely monitored and it is hoped that while weak ideas will not survive in this environment, strong ideas will thrive and may ultimately form the backbone of the new curriculum.

Encouraging girls to train in ICT

ICT is, wrongly, often seen as a male dominated environment and one of the biggest challenges the industry faces in the coming years is to avoid a skills shortage by recruiting more female workers and encouraging girls to embrace related subjects at school.

Recent figures released by e-skills show that women account for only 18 per cent of the IT and telecoms industries, despite 47 per cent of the UK workforce being female.

And it seems that if this is to be rectified then efforts need to be made to attract girls to IT at a young age as currently they are losing interest in the subject at school and never regaining a passion for it.

Figures show that females account for just nine per cent of those taking computing A-Levels at the moment and this figure is dropping further year after year.

The key to tackling this issue, experts have suggested, is to try and make IT more interesting and engaging by showing the wide range of roles it encompasses and also teaching it in conjunction with other subjects to demonstrate that IT touches so many parts of life.

Girls in ICT Day

In April the second annual International Girls in ICT Day was held with the aim of empowering women in IT and promoting gender equality within the sector and a number of events were held across the globe to mark the occasion.

Over the next three years a number of steps will be taken to further develop this initiative, including the appointment of special Girls in ICT ambassadors and the development of the Girls in ICT web portal so that it includes details of IT scholarships, training programmes, awards and courses which may be of interest to girls wanting to develop a career within the industry.

Commenting on the scheme, International Telecommunications Union Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun I. Touré said: "In today’s world, there are far more jobs in ICTs, and career opportunities that rely on ICTs, than all the other jobs put together.

"There is a global skills shortage which amounts to the most extraordinary opportunity for girls and young women.

"These are exciting and engaging jobs that will really make a difference in every sector of the economy – from farming to healthcare, or from aerospace to education. ICTs are fun, challenging, and have a major impact in every part of our lives."

School projects

And while these global initiatives will no doubt play a large role in getting girls interested in IT it is important that steps are also taken on a more local level.

One school in Northern Ireland recently took steps to tackle the issue head on and set up a Computer Club for Girls.

Holy Trinity Primary School in North Belfast is one of 40 schools in the region which are running such afternoon clubs to help get young girls interested in and acquainted with computers from an early age.

Department for Employment and Learning Minister, Dr Stephen Farry, told 24 Dash: “The ICT sector is very important to the success of the NI economy and I support this initiative which aims to encourage young girls to consider this sector for a future career.

"Research shows that 92 per cent of those participating in the Computer Clubs 4 Girls said they would consider studying ICT at GCSE, A Level or degree level, and I hope that some of the participants here today will enjoy a career in ICT in the future."

Teacher feedback on the schemes has been positive so far and it is hoped that the club will have a demonstrable impact on the number of girls going on to develop a career in IT.

And for those who are beyond school age, it is never too late to develop an interest in IT and you may even be able to train in an area which complements your existing skill set.

Whether your interests lie in finance, media, marketing or education, there is sure to be a link to IT somewhere and a course which will help you get to the position you want.

The older workforce and ICT

Sometimes, IT can mistakenly be seen as a young person's career choice. ICT training in schools is today much more prevalent and people who left education in the 1990s or earlier are unlikely to have been given the same level of skills as young people currently entering the world of work.

However, with the IT industry experiencing skills shortages in many roles, there is a real opportunity for older people to re-train and pick up the skills set they need to fill gaps within the workforce.

According to e-skills, there are currently 105,000 vacancies within the ICT sector, but only 30,000 computer science graduates recorded in 2009/2010 to take them meaning that companies will have to look elsewhere to fill much-needed roles.

This problem becomes even more pressing given the fact that the IT sector is scheduled to expand at five times the national average rate over the next ten years.

However, despite these obvious issues, a recent Channel Four News report suggests that there are still some barriers to hiring older IT workers, both in terms of companies' reluctance to offer them roles and people not being aware of the opportunities available to them.

Speaking to the news provider, Jeff Brooks, chairman of REC Technology, the trade body for the IT and Comms recruitment, said that more work needs to be done to persuade employers that older employees can help them out.

"I think there is a trend that older workers are not being invited for interview," he says. "I do know of people in their early 60s, who have real skills to offer, who can't find a contract or a permanent role."

"Despite the fact that employers have skills shortages right now, jobs sit empty, projects don't get done, because they have this bias against older people," says Mr Brooks. "They don't see an opportunity to re-skill and get ten years work out of them."

One of the problems may be that training can be expensive and companies are unwilling to splash out the cash themselves.

Also speaking to the news provider, Robin Jones from the Institution of Analysts and Programmers (IAP), said: "Big companies will do a lot of training in terms of graduate recruitment. Taking on a graduate and taking on somebody older, it will cost them the same."

He added that this coupled with a perception that older people do not take to training as well as younger people is what deters employers from hiring them.

In terms of why older people are reluctant to put themselves up for ICT jobs this also comes down to a question of training in many cases. Some people have been in the same job for a long time and while they may have the skills they don't necessarily have the qualifications or the confidence to transfer these attributes to a new position.

And this is where ICT training comes in. People don't have to wait for an employer to provide training they can take the initiative and undertake a course in their own time.

There are a wide range of IT courses available in all manner of areas such as programming, website design and database administration, with something to suit everyone regardless of their level of experience.

Taking a course gives people a qualification to put on their CV to help make it more impressive and will also give them the confidence that they can apply for jobs, answer questions well in the interview and perform competently if hired.

Ultimately, the UK's population is an ageing one and with the retirement age getting older over the coming decade the nation needs older workers to bring their expertise to the table which means that a lot of older workers may want to consider retraining in IT.

Europe facing ICT skills crisis

Young people in Europe need to be equipped with the relevant ICT skills to ensure that they can carve out a career for themselves in the ever growing digital sector.

That is the message which emerged from the recent European e-Skills week which highlighted that the majority of youngsters in the continent would not be considered 'digitally competent'.


"Virtually all young people are familiar with electronic games and social networking and might be considered as 'digital natives', but they are not 'digitally competent' in the sense that they do not know sufficiently how to use the digital world in a business context," said the European Commission (EC).


The Commission's vice president Antonio Tajani said that this issue is greater than people may first think as not only will it put many people in a position where they struggle to find a job, it could also hold back Europe in terms of "innovation and global competitiveness".


Data from the EC shows that by 2015 around 90 per cent of jobs will require some form of e-skills highlighting the importance of making sure that people are equipped to carry out such roles. Overall, the number of ICT practitioners in the European Union is set to reach 5.26 million within the next three years and the number of jobs for highly-qualified tech people expected to rise by 16 million between now and 2020.


The ICT sector is responsible for five per cent of European GDP, with an annual market value of €660 billion and this figure needs to grow if Europe is to maintain its position within the global economy.


"I am worried, as supply has become a bottleneck for growth in the tech sector, creating a leaky pipeline that threatens to hamper European innovation and global competitiveness. This is more important than ever in the current economic context. And it is crucial to increase creativity which will favour entrepreneurship and new start-ups," Mr Tajani continued.


The fact that Europe is not producing enough people with the necessary ICT skills has been well known for around a decade, but now there is a growing pressure to do something about it.


What steps can be taken?


The issue of IT skills shortages appears to lead back to schools, where too few pupils are engaging with the subject and studying it at a higher level such as A-level or degree.


Writing for The Drum, Steak's chief operating officer Duncan Parry said that children need to be taught a whole host of skills from a young age including IT security, how to use the internet as a source of information, fundamental computer best practice such as backing up files and avoiding data loss, how to communicate effectively using the web and digital health such a repetitive strain injury and declining eyesight.


The real struggle is perhaps how to pass on such skills in a lively and interesting manner which makes youngsters love IT and want to develop a career within the sector


Ideas such as the Raspberry Pi project in the UK which aims to provide pupils with cheap single board computers in a bid to stimulate their interest in ICT.


Other schools have tried to merge the lines between learning and pleasure by covering topics such as social media and computer design and animation.


Another way of boosting interest in IT in schools is to incorporate industry qualifications into the curriculum so students have an added incentive for taking up the subject.


The idea was highlighted by Michelle Selinger, director of education practice at Cisco, at the recent Vital roundtable in London.


Ms Selinger said that there needs to be a better link-up between what is taught in schools and the actual needs of the industry and accepting industry qualifications as part of the curriculum is one way to achieve this.


It seems that governments and businesses across the UK are waking up to potential problems that a lack of IT skills can cause and are trying to ensure that it is not too late to start training people up.


Adam Thilthorpe, Director of Professionalism at the Chartered Institute of IT, told Tech Eye: "The penny has dropped – it took a long time coming. It is very difficult to deny that IT has become absolutely ubiquitous.


"People are beginning to understand that if they get stuff right they can reap the benefits very quickly."

Replacing existing skills

Within the IT department replacing skills as soon as a key person departs is paramount as so many different areas of the business depend on IT skills. For people working in an IT department who want to move up, see what skills senior workers use on a daily basis and make sure you are equipped to fill the gap. Having the ability to stand in for people when they leave is something which is sure to get you noticed

The cloud

2012 is set to the year of the cloud and a growing number of firms are adopting the technology. However, once again, it is an area where not everyone has a full understanding of exactly how much it can help a business.


Rackspace Hosting VP of Cloud Fabio Torlini recently told FOCUS the traction of cloud services around the world is placing pressure on skills and urged UK universities and education centres to add cloud computing to the syllabuses.

He added that high-end skills such as Linux and specific knowledge on the cloud are lacking in the UK.

What about big data?

Big data is set to be a huge trend among businesses in 2012 as the amount of data produced multiplies rapidly.


However, despite the fact that it is becoming an increasingly common issue, big data is leaving many IT professionals confused with a recent survey by LogLogic highlighting that only 27 per cent of IT professional polled could define big data. This is despite half of respondents saying they are very concerned about its implications for their work.


Big data is generally defined as data sets which are so large that they become awkward to work with and are difficult to capture, store, share and search.


However, despite this lack of knowledge, big data has implications for many areas of a business including security and IT so experience and skills within the area could prove invaluable.

Skills shortage fears boosting hiring prospects

Skills shortage fears are leading to an upsurge in recruitment, especially in the ICT and computing sector.


According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s JobsOutlook, two-thirds of employers now planning to hire more permanent staff, with many citing skills shortages as their main motivator for taking on new workers.


Shortages of key staff within both temporary and permanent positions will be most widespread within the IT sector, followed by the telecoms and technical industries.


Commenting on the latest statistics, Roger Tweedy, the REC’s director of research said: “Despite the ongoing undercurrent of uncertainty among employers, there are some positive signs with the majority of employers now planning to slightly increase their permanent workforce."


"The slight upturn in employer confidence does not translate so clearly in the longer term where caution still appears to be the watchword. Employers will continue to seek tangible signs of economic growth before committing to significant long-term hiring plans," he added.


“However, it is important to note that the overall picture is far more robust than at many periods over the last year."


With a number of positions likely to become available within the IT sector over the coming year, now is the perfect time for people to equip themselves with the skills needed to ensure that they would be indispensable to a company.


However, which skills is it that are most in demand among employers?

Mayor of Dudley Visits Computeach

Computeach employee last years runner up......

......for the Duncan Edwards award for sport.  The winner was Shahzada Saleem for stone lifting but Alan Hackett a Recruitment Consultant at Computeach was nominated by the people of Dudley for his work in judo.

"To just be nominated by the people of Dudley for my work in teaching judo was fantastic, " said Alan.

"The biggest thing that has kept me in the sport for all these years is the people I have met over the time and the organisation itself.  I love the sport of judo, to watch children and adults come to the club week after week and to take medals at competitions makes it worthwhile.

"It was nice to be recognised for the volunteer work thousands of people do, week after week and go unnoticed.  To pick up such an award for doing something I love to do makes it all the better."

Councillor Michael Evans Mayor of Dudley to vist Computeach

Computeach are really pleased to be one of the sponsors for the Mayor's Civic Awards and as the nominations filter through the search for an unsung hero is well under way.

About the Mayor’s Civic Awards


The Duncan Edwards awards for sport is named after Dudley’s most famous footballing son who tragically died aged 21, in the 1958 Munich air disaster. This is for those who have achieved in any sport. They may have represented a group, borough or even the country or overcome adversity such as illness or disability to achieve a personal goal. It is also to celebrate and thank those who give their time to working behind the scenes at our local sporting clubs and groups.

Last year, Shahzada Saleem, from Kingswinford, was the winner of the Duncan Edwards award for sport, for his amazing achievement in the sport of stone lifting.

The Cedric Hardwicke Award for arts, is in memory of Sir Cedric, born at Lye Cross in 1893. He went on to become a legend of the British stage and a leader of the British community in Hollywood. This is for people who have contributed to raising the profile of the arts in the borough – whether it be art, amateur dramatics, or music. This person may be the star of the show or they could work behind the scenes, helping to make it happen.

Last year, The Cedric Hardwicke award for arts winner was Lindsay Newton, from Stourbridge, for his energetic and tireless support of arts and education in the Dudley borough.

The Frank Foley Award for community spirit, honours the man dubbed the British Schindler. Frank risked his life to save 10,000 Jews while working as an MI6 agent in Berlin. This is for people who make an outstanding contribution to the community – whether it’s popping in on a neighbour every day, organising or supporting community, sports, or arts groups, or improving the locality for the benefit of everyone. Last year The Frank Foley award for community spirit top prize went to Stourbridge in Bloom stalwart, David Harcourt, who is the driving force behind the town’s annual success in the competition.

The Thomas Attwood Award for education remembers a man, born in Halesowen in 1783, who was a leader for parliamentary reform. Thomas was instrumental in bringing about the 1832 Reform Act – which gave counties and large towns greater representation in parliament and virtually tripled the electorate. This award is for those who go above and beyond the call of duty to improve the standard of education in the borough. This may be someone who gives up their time to help at an after school club or who offers support to learners of all ages.

Last year The Thomas Attwood award for education winner was Anne Penn, head teacher at St James CE Primary School, Stourbridge, for the past 27 years.

The Mayor will make his personal choices for the Mayor’s Award, which is this year sponsored by Thomas Cook, Dudley. The four nominees will then face a public vote in February, via the council’s website.

Last year, Bronwen Hall, from the Black Country Talking Newspaper and Magazine, won the top prize. The service provides audio news and information for people with sight loss in the Dudley borough

Computeach sponsor local education stars

The Mayor’s Civic Awards give people the chance to highlight those working tirelessly in their communities.

Councillor Michael Evans, Mayor of Dudley, said:

“I have been very lucky as Mayor of Dudley to meet some amazing people, who go about their business day after day without any recognition at all. These awards are our opportunity to say a huge thank you to them for all the work they do in making this a great place to live and work, and give them the recognition they truly deserve.

“This year we are working with a team of sponsors, who have all decided to back the awards and show their gratitude to the people who make them special.

“I hope people will take the time to nominate those who they believe are this borough’s unsung heroes.”

Andy Coleyshaw, MD of Computeach, said:

"We are delighted to be sponsoring the Thomas Attwood award for education this year. We’ve been based in Dudley for almost 50 years, so being able to support local initiatives like this is very fulfilling for us."

"As leaders in the field of IT training for career changers, this award fits perfectly with the passion we feel for helping people to learn and develop, young and old alike."

"We believe that it’s never too late for anyone to decide they would like their life to take a new direction. We also believe that the route to this is often through training and education. That’s why we take great pleasure in the difference we’ve made to thousands of our students. It’s also why we now look forward to congratulating the winner of this award and hearing how they, like us, continue to support learners toward a brighter and more fulfilling future."

Nominations must be in by 19 February and the winner and one runner-up in each category will be chosen in March. They will be presented with their prize – a trophy and a certificate by the Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Michael Evans, at a civic ceremony in March.

People can nominate online here or can pick up a nomination form from libraries across the borough from early next week. Alternatively contact communications and public affairs on 01384 814 449 for a form.

What can be done to improve IT in our schools....

One way which is often cited is to have ICT lessons include more aspects of technology which pupils use in real life, so they can see exactly where the skills they learn in schools would come in useful and what a wide range of potential interesting careers there are open to them.

One school doing just that is St Mathew Academy in Blackheath, South London, where pupils have been designing their own mobile phone apps, with the help of workers from real-life company Apps 4 Good.

Other suggestions from schools include blogging lessons and website building classes to show pupils the work which goes into using sites that they use and read daily.

However, it is not just IT specific jobs which pupils need educating about, it is also vital that schools highlight the role IT is increasingly playing in almost all careers, including teaching jobs, positions in the media and almost all office-based roles.

As a growing number of jobs depend on computing skills, today's children may struggle in the future if IT education is not improved.

IT Skills Shortage - Do Schools have a responsibility?

Much has been reported about a potential IT skills shortage in the coming years and it seems that this problem could be further exacerbated if more is not done to make IT more interesting and accessible within schools.

Chief Inspector Miriam Rosen said: "In a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, young people need to be given the opportunity to learn ICT skills in an interesting, challenging and relevant way.  Schools should provide a range of ICT courses that are suitably matched to students needs, support them with their learning and prepare them for higher education and for skilled work in a technological age."

This is not the first time our schools have come under scrutiny from experts - in 2011 Google chairman Eric Schmidt said that he was unimpressed with IT teaching in UK's schools and last month the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a report that found ICT teaching to be "insufficiently rigorous and in need of reform".

These could be some of the reasons why only 31,800 students took GCSE ICT in 2011 compared with 81,100 in 2007 - a marked 61% reduction.

So what should our schools be doing and who is doing it well?