Better together – Overcoming Britain’s STEM skills challenge
This blog was originally posted to my LinkedIn profile page, which you can find here.
The digital revolution is transforming the world around us, and the UK is a nation leading this charge. The impact technology is having on our lives, the way we work and society in general, cannot be underestimated. Its pervasive nature means that the ‘digital economy’ is fast becoming synonymous with the ‘national economy’, and has the potential to boost productivity and thus our economic power in the process. However, the UK needs to face up to a major challenge – finding and retaining talent with the relevant STEM skills in order to realise these benefits.
The skills gap is unquestionably a real one that has direct economic impact. Recent estimates from O2 suggest that the UK economy is losing a potential £2bn from unfilled roles that require digital skills, whilst a Tech Partnership and techUK industry survey found that 93% of tech firms believed the digital skills gap is having a direct negative impact on their business.
Last week’s news, that the Mayor of London is making a £5 million investment to deliver a programme that helps teach young Londoners the essential digital skills required to keep the capital at the forefront of technological innovation, is incredibly welcome. Crucial to this initiative will be collaboration with the London Enterprise Panel (LEP) to establish a London Digital Talent Pipeline to help schools and colleges ensure their curriculums meet the requirements of tech employers.
Ultimately, if the technology industry is serious about overcoming its skills challenge, the sector as a whole and the businesses which operate within it must rethink how they approach and develop the talent of tomorrow. Partnerships are key here, not just not just between businesses, the public sector and schools, but between businesses too. The battle for talent and skills is undoubtedly one of the most strategic issues we face over the next decade, but this is much larger than a business problem, it’s an industry problem, and we must all work together to overcome it.
It’s also not just a London issue, either. While last week’s £5 million STEM skills investment will undoubtedly help, the rest of the country should use this as an opportunity to take note. Rather than criticise city-centric schemes such as this in London, which plays a key role in driving our digital economy, it would be better to use this as a chance to call for investment more broadly across the UK, too, where new tech hubs in cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol are developing at pace.
Only by realising the opportunity through partnerships and collaboration can we turn the skills challenge into an opportunity for the UK as a whole. After all, it’s not a business or city-specific problem; it’s a national one.
