Despite the headlines surrounding mass layoffs, the tech industry as a whole is struggling to find the right talent and a skills shortage is preventing thousands of companies from progressing, particularly with regards to cybersecurity and AI.
In fact, the Employer Skills Survey 2022, commissioned by the UK government to determine recruiting difficulties and the skills lacking in existing employees along with anticipated skills needed for growth in the future, identified that skill shortage vacancies have been steadily increasing over the last decade, from 19% in 2015 to 23% in 2022 which equates to nearly 1.5 million jobs.
The good news for those working in tech is that new opportunities are ripe for the picking.
Case in point, job listing platform Indeed has created a specialist tech network to help connect job seekers with the companies they want to work for and crucially, tap into tech talent who may not be considering a move, but are open to offers.
However recruitment is only one piece of the puzzle and upskilling is also an essential component if both companies and workers want to safeguard their futures.
That’s according to Aileen Allkins, CEO of TeKnowledge, a digital transformation consultancy that offers managed services, digital skilling solutions and cybersecurity strategies.
“Certainly, there’s a pressing need for enhanced efforts in tech education at both academic institutions and within organisations to bridge the talent gap in the tech and cybersecurity fields,” she says.
“Schools and universities should integrate more STEM subjects, focusing on cybersecurity and real-world tech applications, to prepare students effectively for the workforce. Simultaneously, organisations, including governments and enterprises, must prioritise internal upskilling and reskilling programs to harness the latent potential of experienced professionals in other disciplines.”
Allkins also advocates that by fostering a culture of continuous learning, and adapting to technological advancements, existing talent can unleash their potential and be transformed into the tech-savvy workforce required today.
“This approach not only addresses the immediate need for technical expertise but also ensures a resilient, future-ready talent pool for both governments and enterprises globally,” she explains.
Whether your current employer isn’t providing the learning and development opportunities you need to succeed or you’re ready to pivot to an emerging area, the UKTN Job Board is the perfect place to focus your job hunt. It features thousands of roles in companies actively hiring, including the three below.
Staff program manager, Blackhawk Network, Hemel Hempstead
Blackhawk Network (BHN) is a leader in global branded payment technologies and its portfolio of products includes gift cards, e-gift products, and rewards and incentives programmes. It is hiring a staff program manager to partner with product and engineering leads and teams to define roadmaps, multi-sprint plans, and help deliver on those roadmaps.
In this role you will collaborate with other internal/external stakeholders, organise planning sessions, and lead critical programs associated with one or more technology areas. If you’re a self-motivated, driven individual with exceptional program management skills, a strong technical background and the ability to lead teams, this could be the right fit. Find out more details here.
Senior software engineer, ITV Jobs, London
ITV Technology and Global Partnerships are working together on a major programme of change, building out new systems and capabilities for rights, content sales & licensing, royalties and contract lifecycle management.
As a senior software engineer working in this product space, you will be helping to build and run a technology product team, delivering on the goals of the programme, owning the long-term execution, and supporting the total lifecycle of the services.
This is a hands-on role developing the full end-to-end solution using a range of technologies. As you will be joining at the start of the journey, you will have a vital role in defining the toolset and methodologies used as well as helping to build the team of engineers, delivery, test, and product that surrounds it. Interested? Apply here.
Staff software engineer, Ripple, London
Ripple is growing rapidly and is looking for a results-oriented and passionate staff software engineer to help create the next generation of data infrastructure built for scale, resilience and reliability.
This is a high-impact role, and in it you will build real-time data pipelines and a data lake for valuable internal tools used by leadership, compliance, finance, and product teams to make strategic business decisions. You will also be responsible for Ripple’s data API that powers public-facing applications used globally to follow the open-source ledger. Want to know more? Check out the full job description here.
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