The UK’s ever-growing tech sector is under threat as a massive skills shortage reaches an all-time high, according to a Harvey Nash Group's Digital Leadership report.
Around 80% of digital leaders stated that post-pandemic, new life priorities among staff are making retention even more challenging, the report found.
Developed in partnership with Cionet and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology CISR, the report also revealed that the number of UK digital leaders planning to boost their technology investment and headcount reached record levels, rising by over a third, 36% and 37%, respectively, since 2020.
The report also found that 40% of UK digital leaders admit they can’t keep key members of their team as long as they would like, as they’re being lured away by bigger salary offers. Only 38% have redesigned their employee package to make it more appealing to staff in today’s new hybrid working world.
The UK is facing a huge shortage of cyber security professionals available to companies, with a recent DCMS report finding that the UK’s cyber security recruitment pool has a shortfall of 10,000 people a year. The shortage of developers (32%), which has been identified among the three jobs with the worst skills shortages in the UK behind HGV drivers and nurses, saw the biggest increase compared with previous years.
The skills deficit in the UK is impacting business growth, according to the report, with two-thirds, or 66%, of digital leaders unable to keep pace with change because of the dearth of talent they require.
"With businesses planning record levels of digital investment, we could be standing on the verge of a 'second renaissance' for technology," said Bev White, CEO of Harvey Nash Group. "Organisations are looking to push their digital transformations further and faster than ever before, putting technology at the very heart of how they operate. But these ambitions are coming under threat from the acute skills shortages that are now worse than ever before."
