The UK’s new Labour Government is looking to transform the country’s education, skills and digital landscape via the introduction of its new body, Skills England. At the same time, a skills survey, conducted by Reed Talent Solutions and Code Nation, one of the UK’s fastest-growing independent digital and technical training providers, has revealed organisations are looking at upskilling solutions ahead of the recruitment of new talent.
The survey of tech and digital leaders from some of the UK’s most recognisable brands, as well as public sector bodies and SMEs, revealed 78% of respondents are looking to upskill their workforce in some way. This figure consists of almost half (46%) of respondents who said they plan to address technology skills gaps in their workforce by both upskilling existing teams and recruiting skilled talent, and a further 32% who said upskilling staff was central to their plans.
However, notably, just five per cent of respondents said they would be concentrating solely on hiring experienced talent into their tech teams.
When asked specifically what strategies or initiatives they were considering or have already implemented alongside standard recruitment practices, 67% of respondents pointed towards courses designed to upskill their existing tech teams while almost half (44%) said they are prioritising reskilling programmes by training employees from other departments into tech roles.
A quarter said they have implemented or are considering recruit, train, deploy solutions to bring new talent into technology roles, with programmes designed to attract and train more diverse cohorts such as career changers, returners or early talent.
The survey saw 66% of respondents state artificial intelligence is among their top three technology skills gaps. Thirty-seven per cent identified data and analytics, while 31% selected modern workplace skills, such as process automatiion platforms. These results clearly demonstrate the challenges organisations are facing because of skills gaps.
Almost all of those surveyed cited decreased productivity because of these gaps, while more than half highlighted reduced innovation.
It is an issue which is affecting organisations across the country in a variety of sectors. Nationally, there was a doubling in the number of skills shortage vacancies across England, from 226,500 in 2017 to 531,200 in 2022.
Those figures have prompted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to pledge the introduction of Skills England, which he has insisted will have a new partnership with employers at its heart.
This body has a brief to bring together businesses, unions, providers and national government to “ensure we have the highly trained workforce that England needs”.
It was an issue Sir Keir returned to last month when the government published its first report from Skills England. It provided an initial assessment of the nation’s working skills and the gaps employers are struggling with in the market.
The report found employer investment in training has been steadily declining over the past decade, with investment per employee down by 19% in real terms. It also showed that 2.5 million roles are currently in critical demand, with more than 90% being in roles that require training or education.
Currently, there is no strategic oversight of the skills eco-system. This is something Skills England should address. As the result of the skills survey report show, it is vital for the success of our economy that we develop and maintain a world class skills system, with reskilling at its heart.
Our customers are seeking alternative ways of acquiring tech skills, both through reskilling and upskilling their people, as well as accessing more diverse talent by opening doors to tech careers for cohorts such as career changers and career returners.
We realised that partnering with a training provider wasn’t enough. We needed to be able to recruit and reskill new talent, or train existing employees, at a pace and with the agility that matches market demand and ensured we could be at the forefront of skills development, helping organisations to better prepare for the future.
As part of this development, we acquired Code Nation earlier this year. By joining forces with them, Reed Talent Solutions is now a total talent and skills solutions provider.
Whether that’s supporting with experienced hires, delivering career changer programmes or providing upskilling to employees through courses or apprenticeships, we’re enabling our customers to tackle tech skills gaps head on, while creating meaningful new careers in tech for everyone.
We can help your organisation discover innovative strategies to upskill and reskill your workforce, helping you embrace new approaches to skills development to prepare your business for the future – find out more about our solutions here.
