Web 2.0; A new entity, phenomenon or platform?

As expected the face of ICT in Scotland is changing, with the market now showing increased focus on Web 2.0 and the associated skill sets.

With Microsoft recently describing the Scottish IT market as a ìfurnace of innovationî with ìworld class capabilitiesî we are expected to soon be in a position to capitalise on the social networking and ecommerce boom.

This success does rely however on the availability of the desired skills to meet the specific demands of the industry which then is dependent on two main factors; the training available and ensuring the attractiveness of opportunities in Scotland to potential staff.

This yearís Scottish Technology Industry Survey supported and sponsored by 9-20 recruitment in partnership with Scotland IS, breaks down the current skill demand. Technical skills, c#, .Net and those involved in web development were cited by respondents to be the most in demand for 2008 but also worth noting was the increase in popularity of those open source technologies such as PHP and Linux compared with last yearís results.

With these skills also cited across industry reports for the beginning of 2008, the need to both direct talent growth in this area and offer the salaries to support the innovation in Web 2.0 in Scotland is now clear.

As widely reported the average salary for the UKís web developers has still been improving despite the recession scare which shows employers need to be prepared to invest in the talent available to reduce the move towards Scotland being a highly qualified airport lounge, as recently described by Alex Salmond of Scottish Executive; being prepared ìto match educational opportunity with the competitive advantageî.

Despite this increase in salary the latest report from the IT jobs watch shows the Scottish average for the same skill to be on a downwards spiral so it may well be that Scottish companies need to up their game to retain the best talent available on the market.

Other worthy findings from this years survey included the identifying of ìLeaving for higher remunerationî as the key factor among those with staff retention issues and flexi time and bonus structures being the most popular choices when trying to attract new staff.