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As the tech skills gap continues to widen, leading global IT services provider NTT DATA UK&I advises that a combination of automation and tech academies is the winning formula for bridging the gap. New research has found that employers now take an average of 66 days to hire a new technology employee, up from 55 days in 2018 and 43 days in 2015.
There is not enough technology talent available to meet demand and the issue has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. As a result, hiring managers are losing time and money as they struggle to fill technology-related positions.
Combining automation and tech academies enables organisations to increase the talent pool while shrinking the processes that need to be carried out by skilled personnel. In a new report from NTT DATA UK&I, organisations are advised to develop an automation roadmap, prioritising automating tasks based on business value before creating a self-funded centre of excellence. Such centres ultimately generate cost efficiencies and free up talent from over-employed areas of the business.
Following automation, companies can set up a tech academy to upskill the talent pool recycled through automation to serve areas that are proving difficult to staff, such as cybersecurity, cloud migration, automation/RPA, digital engineering or low-code development. This function can also onboard graduates and facilitate apprentices etc.
With sales personnel in the front line of generating revenues and delivering a great customer experience, sales can be an especially beneficial place for some of the newly upskilled personnel to land. Sales Academies add an extra dimension to more-general Tech Academies by preparing new arrivals and existing sales personnel to work with the latest digital solutions.
Theo Angelidis, Client Advisory Partner at NTT DATA UK&I, commented, “As technology companies continue to wrestle with the ever-widening skills gap, we believe that at least part of the solution often lies close to home.
“Through a careful balance of automation and upskilling, businesses can free up valuable in-house resources, optimising costs and avoiding expensive hires. Furthermore, upskilling will lead to increased employee happiness, lower workforce attrition and a more productive workforce. It is a winning approach to a problem that isn’t going away any time soon- it is time for organisations to face the reality of the near future.”
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