Businesses are facing the most acute IT skills shortage in a decade, according to IT management advisor the National Computing Centre (NCC).
The NCC’s Benchmark of Salaries and Employment Trends in IT survey, which polled 244 organisations, has revealed that 40% of respondents have experienced recruitment and retention issues within their IT departments in the past year.
The scarcity of appropriately trained workers is reflected in the overall rate of perceived shortages among respondents, which is estimated to be 6.8%, up from 4.2% in last year’s survey. Demand for those with skills in key areas such as Oracle, SAP, .NET, web development, network support, business analysis and project management is expected to rise over coming months.
The majority of respondents agreed that the problem was related to recruitment plans, rather than retention, a sentiment which Ian Jones, NCC’s head of content, echoed. “With some skills moving into shortage, employers should be planning and budgeting for how best to acquire these skills now.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008
