Beware quick-fix for IT skills gap

The IT skills shortage level has reached 6.8 per cent, new research from the National Computing Centre (NCC) has revealed.

NCC's Benchmark of Salaries and Employment Trends in IT report has discovered that the skills shortage has hit its highest level in the past ten years.

IT professionals that are in high demand are those with Oracle, SAP, .NET, web development, network support, business analysis and project management skills.

Ian Jones, NCC's head of content, remarked that employers must budget for the extra costs such shortages can bring.

The repercussions of the credit crunch are unknown, but more and more organisations are doing business online so demand for web-related skills is buoyant, he said, adding that the public sector will suffer the most as the pressure to limit wage inflation is high.

ClickAJob chief executive Yngve Traberg warns against looking for quick-fixes by advancing staff with uncertain skills.

Plenty of staff members might appear to have some knowledge he says, but that doesn't qualify them to be fully capable in specific applications. Most specialist packages take long term training to be effective - and a little knowledge can be seriously counter productive - costly too.

Mr Traberg goes on. Indications are that this is why demand for online facilities such as ClickATest has surged in recent months.

Knowing staff are properly competent requires careful assessment, he continues. Easy enough with the wide range of online tests available these days - and something no company can afford to do without.