87% of employees in IT and telecoms want to upskill this year, as government campaign launches to boost business growth in听
- Employers urged to make the听most of听national appetite for听learning new work听skills,听as听70% of workers interested in听developing听their听skills in 2022
- Today, government launches a听new听鈥楽kills for Life鈥櫶�campaign听for employers to听boost business growth听by听skilling up workforce
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Major听IT and digital听employers听including听Ma
stercard,听BT, Virgin Media O2,听Openreach听and听Accenture听ha ve called on employers to 鈥榡oin the skills revolution鈥�
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Upskilling your employees听鈥榟elps听with attraction and retention of staff,听provides motivation and engagement.鈥櫶齭ays Viren Patel, Director of the Business Development Unit at The Open University
Businesses across the IT and digital sector are being urged to 鈥楯oin the skills revolution鈥� as tens of millions of employees around England express desire to skill up in their jobs this year. New research has revealed that a huge 87% of workers in the IT and telecoms industries are interested in learning new work skills in 2022, over-indexing against the nation鈥檚 average of 70%.
The new听Censuswide听survey of over 4,000 of the UK鈥檚 workforce showed a clear national appetite for skills development and indicated that employees are hungry to learn more and progress further in their careers this year compared to 2021 鈥� with 69% wanting increased job satisfaction in 2022 and 67% feeling that gaining new skills will be key to achieving their work goals.
Over a quarter (28%) of workers听said听that progression and opportunities to learn were听paramount goals听in their working life.听
This research coincides with the launch of the government campaign which urges employers to 鈥榡oin the skills revolution鈥�, aiming to help businesses across a wide range of industries gear up for economic recovery by skilling up their workforce. The campaign highlights the range of training and employment schemes available for businesses wanting to boost their workforce capabilities, including apprenticeships,听traineeships听
Skilling Up in听IT & Digital
The sector specific findings, indicating 87% of the IT and telecoms workforce hungry to skill up, also laid out the top areas workers are keen to explore including IT and digital (20%), finance (16%) and business (16%). Businesses are being encouraged to grasp this development opportunity to boost their business growth.
Prominent industry voices have spoken out on the importance of skills to drive better results and retain their workforce.
Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, said: 鈥淎t Openreach, we hire and train thousands of people every year to help us keep the UK connected. The Apprenticeship Levy has been crucial for us as we train and develop our team. 鈥淎s we continue to build a new ultrafast ultrareliable broadband network to 25 million homes and businesses all over the country, we鈥檙e committed to giving people from all backgrounds the opportunity to pursue exciting and rewarding careers. Our engineers, equipped with Skills for Life are then able to deploy and maintain the network households, families and businesses rely on.鈥�
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Kelly Devine, President of Mastercard, UK & Ireland, said: 鈥淭he Skills for Life campaign has been designed to help people who need workplace support, through essential skills workshops and on-the-job training, to help build resilience and personal development. Through our Strive UK programme, we know many micro and small business owners are eager to get the support they need to upskill themselves and their employees, increasing their ability to access new customers and markets and ultimately to grow. The Skills for Life campaign will also support those who need the most help with digital skills and technology but don鈥檛 know where to look for resources and advice.鈥�
听IT professional services company Version 1听deliver a range of digital and transformation services to both UK听public and private sectors.听As part of their own听鈥楥ommunity First鈥櫶齭trategy, the business has included a range of placement and听careers development听activities听in听publ
Jude听McVitty,听Social Value Manager, Version 1 said: 鈥淰ersion 1 is passionate about our听social commitment听to the employability of听young people听into our industry.听We are excited to be able to work with the local听college and the听Local Authority in partnership to facilitate听this 鈥� and other future –听T Level industry placements听that we hope will听lead to听a听successful听career in the digital sector. The industry听placement supported听a local employer; and the student gained experience in the workplace, whilst developing their skills and knowledge of IT.听
鈥淎s we work with a range of public and private sector organisations,听we will realise more opportunities to support learners on a range of courses to gain the work experience they need. This benefits听the students, our customers, our听organisation听and our industry; a perfect platform for success.鈥�
The听‘Join the Skills Revolution鈥櫶齝ampaign will showcase hundreds of government-funded skills opportunities available鈥痑nd help businesses to up skill their听employees, find new talent and be a part of training听the听future听workforce.
Nadhim Zahawi MP, Secretary of State for Education said: 鈥淚t is no secret that a skilled and motivated workforce is the key to driving better performance and boosting productivity.听There has never been a better time to make skills a top priority.听To support businesses to unlock untapped talent there is a huge range of training available to help upskill their staff for free including online courses to boost numeracy to apprenticeships, traineeships, T Levels听or our Skills Bootcamps.鈥�
A Demand for Learning
The research found a considerable demand for on-the-job training, with 39% of workers saying they would find this particularly useful. A further 31% of workers wanted courses specific to their sector, as well as encouragement and practical support from their employer 鈥� with 1 in 3 saying they felt held back by a lack of time (36%), a lack of confidence (31%) or knowing where to start (30%).听
The opportunities on offer as part of the听Join the Skills Revolution听campaign, have been designed by and in partnership with employers, listening to businesses to meet their recruitment needs and address skills gaps, through flexible, free or subsidised courses. Skills Bootcamps for example, provide fast-track sector specific training in areas such as construction, HGV driving, green skills, digital, manufacturing and engineering, as well as creating a pool of skilled staff ready to recruit with the right training.听
Businesses are urged to join the skills revolution and drive better performance,鈥痓y visiting鈥� www.gov.uk/skills-
Meanwhile adult learners can discover hundreds of opportunities to learn new skills at鈥�gov.uk/SkillsforLife听鈥撯��from free careers advice and courses听to advanced qualifications and on-the-job training.听
