Businesses Alarmed by Digital Skills Shortage

A major training effort is needed to improve digital skills, and make sure people are not left behind in the digital age, say the Institute of Directors.

The Institute of Directors (IoD) have stated that a major effort is required in the UK in order to ensure that workers have the digital skills required to keep up with technological advances.

The IoD was responding to a report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, which suggested that, while 90 per cent of current UK jobs required digital skills, over 12.6 million UK adults did not have the skills to allow them to perform these roles.

The report also stated that two-thirds of digital-based organisations have struggled to fill a vacancy in the past 12 months, and that 93 per cent of technology companies have seen a direct impact on commercial operations from a digital skills gap.

This is despite over 12 per cent of Computer Science graduates still being unemployed six months following graduation.

Digital Exclusion

The House of Commons report also highlighted a worrying trend in digital exclusion, with 23 per cent of the UK population lacking even basic digital skills. These include a high percentage of disabled and elderly people, as well as those without a formal education.

However, the good news on this front, is that around 4.5 million of the 12.6 million are currently in full time employment, with employers being asked to assess how to aid with digital skills education and training.

While the impact on the economy of these statistics is estimated to be in the region of £63 billion per year, in lost potential GDP, individuals also miss out on savings of £560 per year on average by not being online.

The report concludes that there is more to be done by the UK Government, both in terms of facilitating the training of digital skills, but also putting the infrastructure in place to enable the entire population to have access to the Internet.

Digital Skills Education

In April, the IoD released a major report arguing significant changes to education and life-long learning were needed to enable the UK to adapt to rapid advances in technology and automation.

The IoD’s Chairman, Lady Barbara Judge, in a piece for the Sunday Telegraph yesterday said that society needs to make “a concerted effort to upskill and reskill its population, and not leave a whole generation ill-equipped to meet the new reality”.

Seamus Nevin, Head of Employment and Skills Policy at the Institute of Directors, said of the House of Commons report: “This report shows the need for businesses to invest more in training British workers. We also must make sure tomorrow’s workforce is leaving school or university with the digital skills that employers require. Just as importantly, we must enable people already in employment to retrain or up-skill in order to meet the demands of the changing workplace.

“The IoD has called for the government to increase the use of technology in education — such as use of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) — to provide training at much lower costs and improve access to learning for all. We have also suggested the creation of tax incentives to encourage and enable people at all stages of their career to return to education and learn new skills”.

“The Committee says the UK needs another three quarters of a million workers with digital skills by next year. In order to meet the immediate shortfall, businesses must be able to access workers with the right skills from abroad.”