IT skills gap on the decline

Shortages in IT skills are becoming less common at most UK organisations but improvements must still be made to meet businesses' needs over the next three years, according to new research from e-skills UK.

Just four per cent of organisations surveyed said they saw gaps in the skills needed for their IT professionals in the second quarter of 2005, down for the third consecutive quarter.

The greater concern appears to be IT skills of end users working in other parts of the business, where 11 per cent of firms see a gap, though that figure has also fallen for the fourth quarter in a row.

Overall the effect on businesses of skills gaps for both end users and IT pros has dropped by more than half since last quarter.

For IT staff, just over half possess the high-level technical skills they need, according to their employers. But e-skills UK says this number will need to reach three-quarters by 2008 to meet businesses' needs.

The technical skills IT staff should bone up on most are networking and database design and management.

And it's not enough to just be a techie anymore. e-skills UK predicts two-thirds of IT staff will require high-level management skills in the next three years, while just 45 per cent demonstrate this now.

Other 'soft' skills that IT workers must develop include sales and marketing, knowledge of their company's sector, interpersonal skills, customer handling and teamwork.

To meet the skills requirements of doing business in 2008, three-quarters of firms will train up their existing IT staff. The next most popular tactic, chosen by one in five organisations, is recruiting new staff.

The quarterly ICT Inquiry report from e-skills UK is based on 800 interviews with IT and HR heads at UK businesses.