How companies can upskill and retrain talent to meet the demand for tech skills

Candidate scarcity is having a significant impact on business success with companies experiencing a skills gap in emerging sub-sectors like cyber security, big data, and artificial intelligence. In fact, a recent government report from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) finds that the recruitment pool for cyber security professionals has a shortfall of 10,000 people a year, despite being the most sought-after tech skill in the UK.

Recent research from CWJobs finds that 57% of tech leaders agree that their company has lost out on top tech talent because they have failed to keep up with industry demands. What’s more, 64% of tech leaders agree that losing out on talent has had a detrimental effect on company performance.

A knock-on effect of this widening skills gap is that candidate confidence is high. Top tech talent know their skills are in demand and have high expectations when it comes to employment. Moving forward, tech leaders need to invest more in retraining and upskilling their staff, if they want to futureproof their business.

How the tech skills gap came to be

As Entrepreneur magazine reports, the tech skills gap emerged more than a decade ago. Over the last 10 years, a number of factors have contributed to its widening, and it all began with the rapid evolution of technology itself.

Statista forecasts that even over a five-year period from 2018 to 2023, emerging tech will experience a growth rate of 104%. With such rapid growth, it’s no surprise that business have struggled to adapt to new technology and to find candidates with the skills to use it.

There has also been a lack of awareness in what a career in the UK tech industry involves, particularly at primary and secondary school level. Coupled with other issues such as a lack of diversity, and gender pay gaps, many jobseekers simply aren’t aware of the benefits of working in UK tech.

In recent years, the introduction of IR35 legislation has led to confusion about hiring freelancers and contractors. As an industry that has traditionally relied on contracting work to those with specialist skills, many companies are struggling to keep up with demand for skills that relate to emerging technologies.

Brexit has also led to many companies being unable to hire specialist tech workers from within the EU. Likewise, organisations are facing the challenge of retaining staff, with a recent survey from Deloitte revealing that almost half (47%) of highly-skilled workers from the EU were considering leaving the UK in the next five years.

Knowing what tech workers want from a role

One of the most effective ways that employers can work towards closing the tech skills gap is to pro-actively seek out insights into what the tech workforce wants. A recent CWJobs survey finds that career progression is one of the most sought-after benefits by tech candidates, yet only 19% of workers say their company delivers clear progression opportunities.

Employers need to develop career development paths to show employees that they’re valued. If tech workers can imagine a future with a company, they’re more likely to apply for roles, stay motivated, and loyal. As such, employers should aim to provide training programmes to enable workers to develop in the areas that interest them.

For example, a recent Censuswide survey, which has been cited by many tech outlets, finds that 87% of employees in IT and telecoms want to upskill in 2022. This also coincides with the UK government’s recent ‘Skills for Life’ campaign, urging employers to boost business growth by upskilling the UK workforce.

The importance of upskilling tech workers

Upskilling current employers can help companies bridge skills gaps in the short-term and enable them to develop longer-term strategies for nurturing the next generation of tech workers. It also enables them to make the most of their tech budgets by equipping workers with the necessary skills to use new technology efficiently.

One of the quickest ways to upskill staff is to provide on-the-job training. With companies in various sectors facing an immediate need for tech skills, there may not be time for employees to undertake a comprehensive training package to learn a new skill. On-the-job training enables staff to learn by doing, in real-life circumstances that address the challenges that companies are currently facing. Learning on the job is typically most effective when senior staff members are assigned as mentors, working alongside staff who are retraining.

Likewise, online learning can provide a bridge between on-the-job-training and attending in-person courses or seminars. Employees who have been with a company for several years, may already understand the challenges the company faces and simply need the skills to support their needs. With online learning, staff can learn at their own pace, in a safe environment at home.

Taking a long-term approach to tech training

Businesses have much more to gain from technology training beyond realising the potential of their investments. Our research finds that for two-thirds of tech workers (65%), training is an important incentive and almost all (94%) value training throughout their careers.

While training plays a key role in most onboarding strategies, businesses need to take a long-term approach and continue to provide training on an ongoing basis. Over two thirds (67%) of tech workers say that training needs to be regularly refreshed, so employers need to provide training opportunities at every stage of the career path.

Our research also finds that 66% of tech workers say that technologies and training can become out of date quickly in today’s modern world. Companies therefore, need to ensure that training materials are relevant for today’s workforce. This is particularly important at the moment, as companies are relying on technology more than ever for remote training as well as daily operations.

What’s more, companies need to acknowledge that people have different learning preferences. For example, our Tackling Tech Training report finds that younger tech workers (aged 16-24) prefer creative training programmes such as digital bootcamps (26%) and gamified learning (25%). These preferences further support the need for businesses to listen to their employees and offer programmes that are tailored to their needs.

Given the essential role that tech training and upskilling plays in ensuring the sector is set up for continued success, at CWJobs, we believe the industry needs to address this issue moving forward. For HR teams to bridge the tech skills gap in their organisations and ensure all staff have core digital competencies, employers need to invest time and budget into creating training programmes that will meet their employees’ needs.