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Skills Survey 2003: The full UK results
Including the changes since last year...

By Tony Hallett

Published: Thursday 27 March 2003

The full results of silicon.com's fifth annual skills survey are out. Below we reveal what 3,830 respondents told us between mid-February and mid-March.

As ever, we welcome your feedback.

We'd also like to take this opportunity to tell you, that, ahem, for a small fee, customised versions of our results are available as a silicon.com service. We'll take the legwork out of the whole process by slicing and dicing the data to your requirements, whether you want tailored reports by region, job type, salary... the choice is yours.

But now, on to those results...

A useful barometer of the current state of the IT industry is the number of vacant positions within technology departments up and down the country.

Five years ago, there were significant holes waiting to be filled - a sure sign of a booming market. But now?

A cursory glance reveals that there are fewer vacant positions. This may just mean that your recruitment policies have improved. Then again, it might be a sign of a slowing economy, as discussed here.

Indeed, there's been a downward trend for the last four years.

	Does your business have IT positions it is unable to fill?
			2003	2002	2001	2000	% change (2002-03)
yes			12.44%	17.5%	39%	47%	-29.14%
no		75.4%	68.1%			+10.7%
don't know		12.2%	14.4%			-15.3%

And now on to the specific skills needed in your organisation...

	Which IT skills are in shortest supply at your workplace?
			2003	2002	% change (2002-03)
Programming languages			26.2%	32.0%	-18.1%
Windows		9.0%	9.9%	-9.1%
Unix		13.7%	15.6%	-12.2%
Netware		5.0%	5.7%	-14.0%
Linux		13.3%	12.0%	+10.8%
Other OS		3.3%	3.9%	-15.4%
Database		14.8%	16.2%	-8.6%
ERP		10.5%	12.0%	-12.5%
Networking		11.4%	12.7%	-10.2%
IT management		14.8%	16.9%	-12.4%
Applications development		16.5%	16.5%	0%
Other		12.3%	13.5%	-8.9%
Don't know		22.1%	20.5%	+7.8%

The one skill to stand out here is Linux - it's the only one to have seen an increase in demand over the past 12 months. We'll be bringing you more on this over the next few days.

	Which non-IT skills are in shortest supply at your workplace?
			2003	2002	% change (2002-03)
Project Management			34.6%	35.7%	-3.1%
Leadership		30.2%	32.3%	-6.5%
Budget Planning		12.0%	13.3%	-9.8%
Foreign languages		22.7%	23.8%	-4.6%
Non-IT technical		17.1%	16.6%	+3.0%
Other OS		8.1%	7.7%	-5.2%

In the following tables, 1='strongly agree', 2= 'agree' 3=neither 'agree' nor 'disagree', 4='disagree', 5='strongly disagree'.

	Computer science courses turn out high-quality IT Graduates
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			4.5%	17.3%	49.0%	21.0%	8.2%
2002		5.1%	16.7%	45.8%	24.4%	8.1%

	It is important for vendor qualifications to have government backing
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			5.7%	22.6%	36.3%	24.4%	11.0%
2002		7.6%	23.7%	34.1%	21.7%	12.9%

	Learning over the web is becoming importnat in the workplace
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			15.2%	40.5%	26.0%	14.2%	4.1%
2002		15.4%	40.0%	25.1%	15.3%	4.2%

	Hiring staff from overseas is an essential way of filling short term skill gaps
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			5.0%	11.8%	25.9%	31.0%	26.3%
2002		7.0%	13.7%	25.7%	27.8%	25.8%

Compared to last year, fewer respondents are saying they agree with turning to foreign IT pros, probably reflecting a slackening of demand.

	IR35 has not affected the number of contractors available to complete IT projects
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			6.0%	14.9%	50.9%	15.8%	12.4%
2002		7.2%	14.1%	48.8%	15.2%	14.8%

There is also a growing distrust of IR35, at least in terms of it NOT affecting contractor availability.

	IT managers'/directors' ideas are valued by the board
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			5.4%	27.8%	35.2%	24.6%	6.9%
2002		6.2%	26.5%	34.4%	26.4%	6.6%

	The skills shortage has resulted in me considering using the ASP model
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			3.4%	10.1%	41.7%	23.7%	21.1%
2002		4.9%	11.9%	38.1%	24.6%	20.5%

	Organisations need to devote more time to in-house IT training
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			32.9%	44.4%	14.0%	5.8%	2.9%
2002		34.4%	42.7%	12.5%	6.4%	4.0%

An increased demand for in-house training may well reflect some respondents wanting to at least 'skill up' in lieu of pay rises and perks.

	Job mobility is easy within the UK
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			6.1%	30.0%	37.3%	19.6%	7.0%
2002		8.3%	29.8%	36.5%	19.2%	6.3%

	Job mobility is easy within the EU
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			3.1%	16.4%	47.7%	24.2%	8.6%
2002		5.1%	17.3%	47.4%	22.1%	8.1%

	IT departments are making lay-offs because of the current economic slump
			1	2	3	4	5
2003			23.4%	34.1%	25.8%	12.4%	4.3%
2002		21.1%	33.5%	24.0%	15.4%	6.0%

	Which industry sector do you work in?
			2003	2002	% change (2002-03)
IT/Technology			41.6%	45.3%	-8.2%
Telecoms		8.2%	9.2%	-10.9%
Finance/banking		7.2%	7.7%	-6.5%
Government		4.1%	3.8%	+7.9%
Manufacturing		8.5%	6.8%	+25%
Healthcare		2.0%	1.6%	+25%
Pharmaceutical		0.8%	0.9%	-11.1%
Travel/transport		2.0%	1.7%	+17.6%
Education		4.7%	3.6%	+30.6%
Retail		2.4%	2.5%	-9.6%
Legal		0.8%	1.1%	-27.3%
Media/publishing		6.1%	6.5%	-6.2%
Other		11.6%	9.3%	+24.7%

In broad terms, this table shows a move towards the public sector and away from private sector-dominated areas that are likely to have seen a slower growth or to have contracted over the past year.

	What is your current job title?
			2003	2002	% change (2002-03)
I work for a vendor			3.7%	3.3%	+12.1%
Board director		7.5%	6.6%	+13.6%
IT Director/CIO		6.3%	5.3%	+18.9%
Ecommerce Manager		1.9%	2.2%	-13.6%
IT Manager		20.1%	16.8%	+19.6%
Network Manager		4.2%	4.7%	+10.6%
IT contractor		4.0%	5.4%	-25.9%
IT consultant		17.3%	20.5%	-15.6%
Privacy officer/security		0.6%	0.6%	0%
Communiations manager		1.9%	1.9%	0%
Other		30.5%	32.6%	-6.4%
Unemployed		1.9%

Our breakdown of jobs by title also clearly depends on respondent definition. However, it perhaps isn't surprising positions such as 'IT consultant' and 'IT contractor' have seen a notable decrease.

However, the number of you who say you are a 'board director', 'IT director/CIO' (clearly not mutually exclusive with the former) or an 'IT manager' has risen.

Meanwhile the number of 'privacy/security officers' has remained constant and 'Ecommerce director/manager' has seen a decline, perhaps as this position becomes more widely accepted and is integrated into other roles. Of course such integration could also be the result of cut-backs or the scrapping of some ebusiness projects.

	How much do you earn each year?
			2003	2002	% change (2002-03)
below £25,000			21.7%	22.3%	-2.7%
£25,001-£40,000		35.0%	35.0%	0%
£40,001-£55,000		20.7%	19.1%	+8.4%
£55,001-£70,000		10.8%	9.9%	+9.1%
£70,001-£110,000		8.5%	10.0%	-15.0%
£110,001 and above		3.4%	3.7%	-8.1%

While this figures look fairly healthy, given a stalled market for many IT skills, lay-offs and so on, they should be looked at in terms of inflation. The headline UK inflation rate for the 12 months to February - a month in which we ran the first half of our survey - had crept up to 3.2 per cent, or 3.0 per cent, excluding mortgage costs (the 'underlying rate') according to government figures.

	Where do you work?
			2003	2002	% change (2002-03)
London/South East			50.9%	54.2%	-6.1%
South West		7.3%	6.5%	+12.3%
Midlands		13.4%	11.2%	+19.6%
Wales		2.3%	1.7%	+35.3%
North East		5.2%	4.3%	+20.9%
North West		6.7%	5.3%	+26.4%
Scotland		4.5%	4.3%	+4.7%
Northern Ireland		0.5%	0.8%	-37.5%
Non UK		9.2%	11.7%	-21.4%

This table demonstrates a clear move away from London and the South-East of England generally, which are clearly areas with high living costs.

Northern Ireland and 'non-UK' were the only other two options to see a decline.

	How many hours do you work each week?
			2003	2002	% change (2002-03)
Less than 35 hours			5.1%	4.2%	+21.4%
35-40 hours		34.1%	32.1%	+6.2%
40-45 hours		28.4%	29.7%	-4.4%
45-50 hours		16.3%	18.7%	-12.8%
50+ hours		16.1%	15.3%	+5.2%

	Are you male or female?
			2003	2002	% change (2002-03)
Male			87.0%	84.7%	+2.7%
Female		13.0%	15.3%	-15%

Though by no means completely scientific, this part of our poll suggests there are now fewer women in the sector than last year, which is perhaps surprising. Needless to say the percentage points decrease in women is matched by the same increase in the men.

	Which best describes you?
			2003	2002	% change (2002-03)
Permanent employee and do not want to change			69.0%	61.8%	+11.7%
Permanent employee and want to be a contractor		6.3%	9.7%	-35.1%
Contractor and do not want to change status		7.2%	9.8%	-26.5%
Contractor and want to be permanent employee		2.4%	3.3%	-27.3%
None of the above		12.9%	15.4%	-16.2%
I am Unemployed		2.2%

As in previous years, the figures to look out for here are in the first and third categories - the people we like to call 'happy permies' and 'happy contractors'. The obvious interpretation is that as the downturn has bitten, fewer people in IT eke out a living as an independent contractor - either through choice or because of factors such as IR35 or work drying up altogether.

While the percentage point figures are small, the 'happy contractor' figure has actually dropped by 26.5 per cent.

Last year we failed to include an 'I consider myself unemployed' category, though clearly many contractors inbetween jobs don't consider themselves unemployed.