Communications of the ACM
Tech Skills Shortages are Increasing Every Year, and Large Corporates are Worst Affected
IT skills shortages are at their most acute since 2008, writes Albert Ellis, CEO of recruiter Harvey Nash, and "can't fail to act as a bottleneck to growth."
Credit: Computing U.K.
Every year when the results of the Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey come back, we think the skills shortage problem can't possibly have got any worse. But every year, it has. In fact, skills shortages are now at their most acute since 2008. These shortages can't fail to act as a bottleneck to growth.
With technology developing at such a pace, perhaps it's no surprise that supply can't keep up with demand. Certainly, the most acute shortages are at the top end, in advanced fields such as big data/analytics (43% of organisations reporting a shortage), cyber security (39%) and AI (38%).
Every kind of organisation is affected to a greater or lesser degree. The sector struggling most is government where 81% of respondents said they are facing a critical skills shortage preventing their organisation from keeping up with the pace of change. The middle band of companies, those with IT budgets of between $50 million and $250 million, are also badly hit, with 73% reporting a critical shortage. Overall, 67% of businesses have a critical skills shortage issue.
But one of the emerging trends that is beginning to become ever clearer is the divide between older, established brands and smaller, younger businesses. It is the big corporates that are feeling the most pressure. Among businesses over 50 years old, 71% are facing a talent problem.
From Computing (U.K.)
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