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Fall in GCSE ICT students heighten skills gap concern
IT News |
25/08/2010
New fears over a potential ICT skills shortage have emerged, as this year's GCSE results pointed to a fall in the number of students studying technology-related subjects.
Official data for the 2009-10 academic year revealed a 17 per cent fall in the number of students sitting exams in ICT compared with 2008-09.
Just 61,022 pupils aged 15 and 16 took GCSE ICT this summer, compared with 73,519 last year. Compared to 2005, when 103,400 sat exams in this subject, entry levels were down by 41 per cent.
For short-course IT, the number of entrants has fallen by 27 per cent over the last 12 months, adding to concerns over a potential talent shortfall in the future.
For professionals already working in the industry, a drop in the number of new entrants could initially increase demand for their services, applying upward pressure to their salaries.
However, just this week, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warned that a shortage of domestic IT talent is leading many employers to turn to international markets in search of new employees.
The organisation found that 18 per cent of businesses are seeking to hire migrant workers to fill IT roles, potentially reducing the employment options available to UK-trained professionals.
Other businesses could quite feasibly choose to outsource their IT to third-part hosts, potentially to offshore destinations where skills supply exceeds demand.
And if IT salary demands do indeed rise on account of increased competition for skills, this cost-cutting avenue will become an inevitable route for many employers.
At present, the IT recruitment market appears to be holding up, with the Ashdown Group Jobs Index pointing to an 8.43 per cent increase in vacancy availability during July.
However, unless more young people show an interest in working in IT, a lack of accessible computing skills could well blight the UK market for years to come.
Posted by John Lynes
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