Call for more action to fight deepening tech skills crisis

The UK’s status as a global tech hub is under serious threat, with a dearth of talent within the country and poor digital education programmes meaning the skills are simply not being developed for British firms to exploit new tools, including martech systems.

That is the dire warning following the publication of Coursera’s Global Skills Report 2023, which ranked the UK as 64th globally in skills development, with Tech Global Advocates chief Russ Shaw claiming the roll out of digital skills programmes has fallen behind, while the recruitment of top talent from overseas has also been hit by immigration barriers following Brexit.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of UK organisations are currently experiencing digital, tech and data skills shortages.

The situation has also been exacerbated by the demise of Tech Nation, the non-governmental body which represented the UK’s burgeoning tech industry, which lost its £12m funding to Barclays Eagle Labs.

The organisation also ran a key visa programme on behalf of the Home Office, which connected international tech talent with fast growth firms in the UK. Tech Nation processed over 6,000 Global Talent Visa applications and endorsed more than 3,000.

In response, ministers have committed to ramping up the availability and education of tech skills through funding initiatives such as new Centre for Finance Innovation & Technology, although there are no figures to show how many candidates have been trained.

In response to Coursera’s Global Skills Report, Dr Yi Ding, assistant professor of information systems at the Gillmore Centre for Financial Technology, commented: “Investing in technological skills is a vital step. The fintech industry offers enormous benefits, not only as the economy regains strength, but for businesses who can use the tools it offers to enhance capabilities.

“Fintech will hold a key position in the recovery of our economy, attracting overseas investors and allowing us to lead the way in major technological advancements, however, without sufficient tech skills to support this, the sector may fall flat. Government and businesses must now come together to work alongside the world-class research institutions in the UK to equip our workforce with the skills they need to allow the industry to flourish.”

ITG group deputy chief executive John Kirk added: “The lack of tech talent risks halting the progress being made, especially within martech, which can enable businesses to scale up their processes, reach consumers quicker and tap into rapidly changing industry demands.

“As consumers become more demanding than ever before, marketers must increasingly tap into the tech available to appease their consumers, so we need creatives with tech skills who can lead the charge.

“The industry needs the relevant skills to operate the tech that is now available, and once this is capitalised upon, we can hope to see enhanced marketing processes and consumers can expect to see an increased amount of personalisation, localisation and reactive marketing.”