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A shortage of IT skills in the UK could slow the growth of the economy, warns the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC).
The business group released its recent Workforce Survey, which revealed that two-thirds of businesses believe computer literacy and IT knowledge are key skills when hiring new employees.
Charles Bligh, MD of TalkTalk Business, said: “The British Chamber of Commerce’s report emphasises what we’ve known for years: the UK has the opportunity to become the world’s leading digital economy, but we need to make sure that our workforce has the right skills to capitalise on this.“
The research also stated that a quarter of the firms surveyed believe that there is a skills shortage in this area.
The BCC has created a plan in light of these findings, to address these challenges in schools and colleges in a bid to help close the skills gap.
In addition, it wants to launch a commission to examine ways to boost the skills shortage, and provide career advice to children in primary schools.
Bligh added: “With digital job growth expected to outperform all other sectors by 2020, it is critical that we equip the future workforce with the skills to succeed, but recent TalkTalk Business research has shown that 40 per cent of SMEs think the government needs to do more to strengthen schools leavers and graduates’ digital skills.”
This news comes after CompTIA’s new UK channel community director Estelle Johannes revealed that she wants to help close the IT skills gap in the UK.
CompTIA also plans to bring its US ‘Dream IT’ initiative to the UK, which aims to advance women in IT.
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