ScotlandIS, Scotland’s trade body for the IT and digital sector, published highlights of itseighth annual members’ survey today. Against a background of strong and sustained industrygrowth, the demand for jobs in digital technologies remains a critical barrier as companiesreport increasingly hard to fill vacancies and specific skills shortages.These are the latest findings from the Scottish technology industry’s annual ‘barometer’ thatshows that almost 70% of respondents are planning to take on more staff10% on 2012 figures.(1)Employing over 100,000 people, the IT and digital industry in Scotland is now growing fasterthan any other sector, with 45,000 new professionals needed in the next five years.(2) Thisview is echoed by last month’s Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs, which shows that demandfor permanent jobs in IT and computing continues to lead all other sectors in Scotland.(3)Polly Purvis, Executive Director of ScotlandIS, says: “Today’s survey results and industryfindings reinforce the message that comes back again and again from our members. Theyare going for growth and there is significant pent up demand for skilled people in the digitaltechnologies industry.“There’s an increasing buzz about the industry as business and government transform theiroperations through the smart application of technology. We’re seeing growing confidenceacross the industry, from startups to the growing number of Scottish digital technologybusinesses carving out export markets around the world.”Software and web development skills are in the greatest demand (66%), closely followed bycommercial and business skills (53%) and project management skills (49%).Good news also for graduates who are now one of the categories of staff most in demand at58% – neck and neck with operatives roles at 60%. However, the lack of local talent is forcingemployers further afield when looking for staff with half (52%) of all respondents reportingthey will need to recruit people from outside Scotland.Steven Drost, CEO of Stipso comments: “Startups like ours are having a challengingtime finding qualified software developers. Startups need to focus on a lean developmentenvironment so we can prototype cheaply and get to market fast. The skills needed in thelean development environment such as Ruby coding are in particularly short supply.”As headcount is set to rise in this sector, so too are sales. The survey showed that 80%of respondents expect their sales to increase this year.export markets, it’s good to see that over half (53.3%) of respondents report they are sellingoverseas with another 13% looking to export.Wendy McDougall of 9-20 recruitment said: “It’s good to see continued demand for bothskilled operatives and graduates – that’s very encouraging for those students qualifying thissummer. The challenge is keeping the talent coming through the pipeline from universitiesand colleges to keep up with the demand for skilled workers in the digital technologyindustries”.Alastair O’Brien, Public Sector Director of Amor Group and Deputy Chair of ScotlandIS,added: “The ScotlandIS annual survey confirms what Amor has said in the past, namely,the software industry in Scotland is crying out for suitably qualified graduates, growth in ourindustry is being restricted, and Scotland is losing out to other countries. It is unacceptablein the midst of a world-wide digital revolution that Scotland doesn’t have enough talentedgraduates to exploit fantastic global opportunities. In order to be successful, Scotland needsmore qualified graduates, we need to encourage and provide the opportunities for the nextgeneration of students to be part of such a successful industry”.The IT and Telecoms industry contributes £4 billion (5%) of Scotland’s economy annually.The technology sector creates thousands of new jobs each year and its growth boosts theScottish economy by more than £30m annually. Scotland could add £12bn to its economy,create 20,000 additional high value jobs and create 1,000 new businesses over the next fiveyears by enabling digital technologies.
