Staying relevant is key to plugging the skills gap

There is no question that the UK is facing a significant digital skills shortage: high-skilled vacancies in technology companies have made up the largest part of the professional vacancy market this past year.

With concerns that the end of the European freedom of movement may further reduce the talent pool in the UK, domestic digital skills programmes have never been more important. Last month - in conjunction with London Tech Week - WiTT (Women in Telecoms and Technology) and the FDM Group jointly held an event to discuss the significant challenge facing these two industries.

Women remain a largely untapped resource in digital industries, despite increased awareness and new programmes to engage girls and women these past few years. And while moving in the right direction, women account for 22 per cent of the core STEM workforce, despite making up just under half of the UK labour market.

British businesses are craving more digital skills. We can’t expect to meet this demand if we continue to accept that just half the population will make up the significant majority of workers in these professions. It’s therefore crucial that we attract more girls and women into the industry.

But how do we do it? Well, the panel I moderated underlined how it’s crucial that we stay relevant. And this challenge is two-fold.

A workplace that’s relevant to the workforce

For organisations looking to attract skilled digital workers, it’s important to ensure that the culture and values that it embodies are relevant to the workers that it’s trying to attract.

One key demographic is millennials, who are increasingly looking for workplaces that share their cultures and values. Shelia Flavell, COO at FDM Group, pointed to how FDM has successfully attracted massive numbers of applicants to its graduate IT programme by encompassing the “work hard, place hard” attitude.  

Another key group are attracting women who have taken career breaks. The drop off rate for women in technology is pronounced, with a report from McKinsey & Company indicating 56 per cent of women leave their technology career at the mid-level stage.

The Reconnect Programme, which targets people who have had career breaks, is a key employment strategy for Vodafone, explained Felizitas Lichtenberg, the company’s Group Inclusion Director. The programme supports its ‘reconnects’ through working more flexibly or a four-day week.

This programme, she explained, is hoping to change the societal view that people who have taken work breaks – whether to become parents, travel or any other reason – have lost their career. “We need to create a new attitude that says it’s okay to take a break and it’s okay to come back,” she stated.

Make yourself relevant to the digital market

It’s not just about companies staying relevant, the panel was keen to reinforce.

Trudy Norris-Grey, Chair of WISE and MD Business Development, Worldwide Industries at Microsoft, highlighted how many traditionally female roles are at risk of being disrupted by advancements in technology. She explained how one of the sad stories about digital transformation is that for every new job it creates 20 ‘female tasks’ go away, compared to just four ‘male tasks’. Traditionally female roles, she reiterated, are particularly at risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence and other new technologies coming down the pipeline.

It’s therefore crucial that women ensure that their skills are relevant to the future labour market. This will not only be crucial to ensuring that their own careers aren’t disrupted, but will be a momentous force in supporting the UK’s digital industry.

Sally Springbett, Director at Sapphire Partners, advocated how it’s important to constantly take the opportunity to learn new skills. She called on women to push themselves more, resenting the lack of confidence that she fears is planted as seeds at an early age. She pointed to her own experience of feeling more empowered as she’s grown older, encouraging women to “just go for it”!

Finally, Yvonne Gallagher, CIO of the National Audit Office, called on more young women to get into the industry, stating how “a career in tech is an amazing thing to get into”. Get a good grounding in the early years, she advocated, explaining how it enables you to move into different areas of technology later.

Invest for digital success

There’s certainly no silver bullet to getting more women into the technology industry. With aggressive digitisation goals and the national skills shortage, Yvonne highlighted that while many organisations may wish to attract a more diverse workforce, the primary goal is to find enough people with the necessary skills to meet the demand. This, she explained, is a significant challenge for Government.

The responsibility is therefore falling on industry to solve the issue of recruiting and training the desired, diverse workforce. While being spearheaded by companies like FDM, whose business model is to deliver this, more engagement is certainly required by all types of industries as technology increasingly underpins the delivery of almost every business in the new digital economy.

On our WiTT panel, we had representatives from companies that have assumed this responsibility and are taking important steps to engage a more diverse workforce. Each of the panellists actively encouraged women to enter and stay in the technology industry, highlighting that the potential advantages far outweigh the challenges. And not just those with computer science degrees. “I’m from Swansea, didn’t have a computer background” Trudy Norris-Grey advocated, “Now I have a great job, travel the world and […] earn a great salary.”

Digital skills are the foundation to the success of Britain’s future economy. Women that discover their passion and learn the relevant skills that will enable them to achieve it, the panel agree, will reap the massive rewards of the UK’s booming digital economy. Organisations, too, can only thrive with the right skills to enable the aggressive digitalisation that will help them keep up with – or get the edge on – their competitors. And, only by investing in a relevant, skilled workforce can they hope to achieve this.