Scots IT firms recruit abroad in ‘skills crisis’

SCOTLAND’S £4 billion computing industry faces a “skills crisis” and is being forced to recruit staff from across the Border and overseas to plug holes, according to a new sector-wide survey.

Trade body ScotlandIS warned half of firms could not find enough recruits north of the Border, with the sector expecting to create 45,000 jobs over the next five years, on top of the 100,000 workers that it already employs.

Polly Purvis, executive director at ScotlandIS, said that the same message “comes back again and again” from its members.

“They are going for growth and there is significant pent-up demand for skilled people in the digital technologies industry,” Purvis said.

Alastair O’Brien, public sector director at Inchinnan-based IT firm Amor Group and deputy chair of ScotlandIS, said: “Scotland is crying out for suitably-qualified graduates, growth in our industry is being restricted and Scotland is losing out to other countries.”

Steven Drost, chief executive at Stipso, which designs online graphics that collect and display data, added: “Start-ups like ours are having a challenging time finding qualified software developers.”

ScotlandIS’s annual survey found that software and web development skills are in the greatest demand, closely followed by commercial and business talent and project management skills.

Some 70 per cent of firms plan to hire more staff in the year ahead, ten percentage points higher than last year.

More than half of firms surveyed are already exporting their products and services, with a further 13 per cent planning to start selling overseas in the year ahead. Some 80 per cent expect their sales to rise.

Last week, Cisco Scotland boss Donald McLaughlin warned that IT companies need to engage not just with universities but also with schools in order to compete for talent with other sectors, such as life sciences and renewable energy.