IT pros lack recent skills
CompTIA says technology outpaces training
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46% of IT workers struggle to keep their skills up to date with new technology, according to CompTIA, a non-profit trade association advancing the global interests of information technology professionals.
The organisation's latest State of the IT Skills Gap research found that 43% of organisations cannot find the resources necessary to help IT departments train their staff. That reluctance to send cash IT's way may be because 39% of organisations don't see a performance boost when they do shell out for IT-specific training.
The resulting mess means that (80% of employers think they have a damaging skills gap, often impacting staff productivity (41% of respondents) customer service or customer engagement (32%), and security (31%).
Many are therefore turning to online training to close the gap. The research says online self-training has become the most popular method for educating IT professionals and that 57% of organisations are trying to close a skills gap with more training for IT workers.
COMMENTS
Employers are so dumb about this.
Sigh! As a very low level PHB in a large IT company I can't help but read this story with sad dismay. In my experience my team value being able to keep their skills up to date as much or even more than getting pay rises. To them training represents staying employable and it is great way of boosting morale but the higher ups don't see it that way. The chaps in the corner offices expect full attendance at their briefings, strategy meeting and town halls but won't allow time for the people who generate the cash to develop their skills.
I've lost track of the business cases I've had thrown out even for time out for training.
I've lost count of the projects we've had had to recruit expensive contractors for as we don't have the in-house skills because we won't spend money on training - I cannot get the money for any of my team to do on-line training as the company won't give up the revenue.
The problem is not in ourselves nor in our stars but in the stupid idiots managing UK plc.
Isn't that many "recent technologies" are crap?
Did some companies ever think that the "recent technologies" their management is eager to adopt are crap in the eyes of skilled IT people?
Re: Employers are so dumb about this.
Welcome to the UK job market. I am surprised you have not noticed the lovely scenery around you.
UK employability is not based on skill it is based on experience. Get on an IT job board and read the job ads - if you find one that specifies skill it will be a spec published by a non-UK company. The short term results from that are that:
1. Getting a "recent tech exhibition" in your server room in order to have "experience" on your CV is more important than getting the job done.
2. If something can be bought and "experience" attached to the CV on it, it shall be bought regardless of how sh*** it is even if writing the same thing will take an IT pro about half an hour.
3. Bespoke software and customizations to fit the company business needs are not ordered unless they can be ordered from an outsourcing organization. Experience in dealing with outsourced partners is a "employable" CV skill for a UK CV, while riding shotgun on local suppliers to build it and deploy it is not.
4. A UK company manager is more likely to complete a full sepuku (spill his guts with a wakizashi and chop of his head with a katana) unassisted than pay a technical member of staff more than himself even if his skills require that.
5. Even if it can hire a qualified person who can do 3-4 junior jobs simultaneously by automating them and improving the workflow, a UK company will refuse to do that. The catchphrase is: "We cannot change our grades".
6, 7, 8... ad naseum
The overall effect is that the UK skills and productivity gap compared to the rest of the world is growing and will continue to grow and I hate to say it but there is no end in sight. The situation has gone so bad that I have stopped keeping a UK version of my CV. It is now formatted strictly in a skills format the way yanks and other countries like it.
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