IT giants unite in bid to plug skills shortage

TECHNOLOGY giants Cisco, IBM and Oracle are among the companies joining forces to recruit more women and young people for Scotland’s £3.4 billion IT industry as the sector grapples with an ­ongoing skills shortage that experts say is set to grow.

A series of events running under the banner of Technology Opportunities Focus kicks off this week with the aim of bringing more talent into the industry.

At the moment, women account for less than one in five of the country’s IT professionals, while nearly half of those working in the sector are over the age of 40.

Polly Purvis, executive ­director of ScotlandIS, said the industry is “crying out for talent” despite stubbornly high levels of unemployment across the country.

A survey earlier this year by the industry trade body found two-thirds of businesses planning to take on staff, with a heavy emphasis upon commercial skills such as marketing and business development. With the sector as a whole growing at four times the Scottish average, it is ­estimated that 40,000 technology recruits will be needed within the next five years.

“Although technology is completely integrated with all aspects of our lives, the image of the sector is one-dimensional and totally underestimates the job options available for bright young people and women,” Purvis said. “Talented individuals are ­often steered to more traditional sectors, but with areas like law and teaching with more candidates than vacancies, we would urge them to consider technology as a very attractive career option.”

ScotlandIS and Scotland Women in Technology – the groups organising Technology Opportunities Focus – are already working to reverse the declining number of pupils taking computer-related courses in school. Since 2002, the number of applicants to computer-related study in higher education in Scotland has fallen by 29 per cent.

Technology Opportunities Focus intends to build upon the work already underway, beginning with a private dinner on Tuesday and followed the next day by training workshops for women and young people at Oracle’s ­offices in Linlithgow.

Cisco will hold an event for school pupils early next month, highlighting the role of the technology sector in the 2012 Olympics, while IBM will back a European day of languages at Prestwick airport. The series finishes on 4 October with ScotSoft2012, the annual forum and dinner for the technology industry.

Linda O’Donoghue, site ­director at IBM in Greenock, said the variety of opportunities available in technology was often “underestimated and misunderstood”.

She said: “We have many employees whose core skills span a range of disciplines and are in many cases also complemented with a language rather than very technical specialist skills.”

Caroline Stuart, director for Oracle in Scotland, agreed that the sector suffered from an out-of-date image in need of overhaul. She added: “Technology underpins the majority of business operations so it is not only important for our sector to boost the talent pipeline, it is vital for our whole economy.”

IT and telecoms account for 5 per cent, or £3.4bn, of the Scottish economy.