VOICES
Essay
struggling with sizeable skills gaps, school leavers are
setting their sights on developer roles. The most desirable
job t it les for s c ho ol leaver s i n 2018 i nc lude d app de velop er,
web developer and game developer, according to research
from Nominet (https://netm.ag/2u0c5hK).
Encouraging as it is that digital roles are far more
preferable among young people than roles in those
aforementioned healthcare and hospitality sectors, the
digital economy isn’t exactly exempt from a deficit of
skills. If this isn’t addressed, the UK’s promising digital
industry could see that skills gap growing and its progress
as a world leader in development faltering.
The problem here is a distinct lack of cohesion
between the education providers and the employers
that need a steady stream of young people with digital
skill sets. Nearly half of young people in the UK feel
their education has left them ill-prepared for the world
of work according to a recent sur ve y by the CBI (https://
netm.ag/38H0rHk). Given the importance of digital
competencies in today’s business landscape, this would
suggest there is a lack of digital know-how in many
leaving education.
It should be a major concern that almost one million
young people in the UK are not in education, employment
or training – especially given the fact that 40 per cent
of employers cite skills shortages as the reason they’re
struggling to fill entry-level roles.
The web industry and education now need to support
this demand to create the ne x t generation of de velopers
and digital consultants. This will require some specific
g row th strategies to suppor t these young people as the y
enter the industry.
Schools have taken steps to give young people access
to laptops, iPads or other devices in most classes from
the age of seven. This is a great start because using
technology early will drive an interest in it but the
introduction of coding and digital literacy classes is
tak ing some time. Gone are the days when casual users
need to edit HTML on their web page or use MS-DOS to
load programs, so enabling students to get into a ‘code
mindset’ earlier is key.DEVELOPING AN INDUSTRY OF
OPPORTUNITY
Young people leaving education and looking for work
now are expecting more from their jobs. Flexibility,
growth and freedom of expression are prerequisites in
the Google age and these are a few things that help,
encourage and support these people to apply for jobs
and stay long term. T his is key to creating e x perienced
practitioners and maintaining the UK’s position as tech
leaders. Flexible working and clear personal
development are critical to keeping a driven workforce
and giving them sufficient time to develop into the
experts of the future.Oppor tun it ies need to be made as accessible as possible
for people of all backgrounds and abilities. Lack of
accessibility is perhaps one of the biggest inhibitors when
it comes to connecting talented people with great
opportunities that benefit the individual, the employer
and the customer.
The need for accessibility is finally gaining greater
recognition in digital products and we’re seeing more
requests from customers for it in the products being
built. Across websites and apps, whether they’re created
for public use or behind the scenes in a business, it’s
becoming a greater priority to ensure everyone can
benefit from the value the product is designed to bring- not just the most able-bodied users.
Vision-impaired users or those who are colour blind,
for example, are just as reliant on digital products as
the ne x t person – especial ly as jobs become more digital.
It’s refreshing to see this level of accessibility being
implemented into products but digital businesses need
to apply the same ethos to the industry itself, enabling
people of all genders, backgrounds and abilities to
participate in development.
CONTINUING THE SUPPORT
Nur turing talent goes be yond simply de veloping staf f to
a required level. Employers need to retain that talent
and ensure the development never stops. The Deloitte
Global Millennial Sur vey found that 55 per cent of those
asked would leave an employer within two years if they
didn’t begin to support personal development.
Employers should always provide opportunities to
keep learning – at every level of the business. Supporting
continued development means the business, the services
it offers and the quality at which it delivers will
continuously evolve too.
Implementing peer review processes within
development teams means each stage of a project build
goes through scrupulous review but also provides
learning opportunities for developers at all levels within
the team; continuously exposing them to new aspects
of development and project delivery.
It’s in the interest of development for businesses to
keep nurturing talent. In doing so, they will retain the
most talented employees from all backgrounds. This
creates a richer team that continually grows stronger.
It’s absolutely in the best interest of UK or international
businesses to work with British development teams as
the y w i l l be gett ing access to the most insight f ul, talented
and passionate experts in the industry.P
ROFI
LE Sandbach is managing director of Indiespring,
a Manchester-based digital agency. He has
worked with many big brands including
Manchester Airport, TUI, Asda and Makro.
w: https://indiespring.com