The Looming Skills Crisis: A Solution
The looming skills crisis is a hot topic. Spend time on the pages of LinkedIn and you will see employers and recruiters fizzing about how difficult it is to hire for tech roles. Salaries are rising but a good salary is no longer good enough. Employees want remote, flexible working to fit their lives. They want benefits, exciting projects and a great working culture. And even when all that is on offer, they are still able to choose between multiple roles.
As a result, salaries are rising, businesses are struggling to hire, and many will soon be priced out of the market and left permanently short on essential technology skills. This will have a catastrophic effect on the economy, and halt much needed technological progress.
The search for perfection
But this only tells half the story. What is not being talked about is the fact that employers want their candidates to have the best education, the latest skills and several years of experience. Recruitment has become an industry in itself, and recruiters are only paid if their candidate is successful. This is driving candidate hunts to become more and more specific. Recruiters need to invest their time in the candidates that are the best fit - role ready candidates.
In the meantime, Covid and Brexit have decimated the opportunities available for a generation of young people. Younger generations are struggling to find good quality, professional, rewarding work. With the prices of houses rising, and a new social care tax on the horizon, their prospects are bleak.
By only hiring experienced people we are abandoning a generation who have paid a high price for the recent Covid-protection schemes. A generation who didn't want Brexit. A generation who have made great sacrifices for older generations.
Inexperience is temporary
A new graduate, new starter or apprentice will only be inexperienced for 1-2 years. Within 3-5 years they will be considered an experienced professional. These time frames are minute in the grander scheme of a business’ life.
Be part of the solution
We have a responsibility to be part of the solution. It’s time to invest in younger generations. Businesses need to step up and take on promising young people who may not yet have all of the experience needed, but are full of enthusiasm, energy and fresh ideas.
If we don't, the tech skills gap will grow. Those leaving education will become a lost generation. Their opportunities will be forever diminished because we chose to make sacrifices to keep ourselves, but mostly our older people, safe. Businesses will suffer as wages rise to the point where only the biggest, wealthiest businesses will be able to hire skills, the economy will contract and innovation will slow.
Apprenticeship funding to solve the skills crisis
Right now there is government funding available to anyone hiring an apprentice. In England it is £3,000. In Wales it is £4,000, for up to 10 apprentices - a total of £40,000. Use it to give a young person, or a new starter, a career changing opportunity. Use it to solve the skills crisis. Use it to enrich your business with energy and fresh ideas. If every business hires one young person, we can change the fate of a generation and build a better, stronger economy. The skills crisis is real. Be part of the solution.
Contact Business Wales to learn about hiring an apprentice in Wales. Act quickly - the current apprenticeship funding is due to end on 30th September 2021. We hope it is continued beyond then, but we will have to wait and see.
If you are interested in joining our team have a look at our vacancies in the news section. At Volanto we are experts in delivering digital transformation and rapid growth. We are also passionate about fixing the looming skills gap, and providing roles that are flexible, inclusive and accessible to all.
