Read: Turning tech talent shortages into opportunities

We hear a lot about the skills gap. It’s a twenty-first century challenge and it’s ironic that it’s the tech sector where the situation is particularly acute.   

Companies just haven’t got enough people with the right kind of skills that a digital, green, hi-tech economy requires. Their productivity decreases as a result and they aren’t able to offer a full range of services. As a result, they’re not competitive enough and not as profitable. Many workers don’t have the skills that employers are seeking and struggle to find work and so the cycle continues. 

Of course the tech sector does not just refer to IT companies. It extends to all those businesses where the use of technology and digital competency is integral to their success - in engineering for example but, less obviously, to the media or health sectors for example. Across the board it is a sector where women are particularly poorly represented. So the two problems collide in a perfect storm for an industry which should, by its nature, be leading the way. However, if you talk to people inside it, they are overwhelmingly convinced that it could be women who are the solution.

In a new survey by Computer Weekly, 67% of tech workers in the UK believe that women are the answer to tech talent shortages but only 40% said that their company has a plan in place to help improve the gender split in their IT teams.  It also found that almost a quarter of respondents strongly believe that women are not well represented in higher positions within the tech workforce, despite the fact that the percentage of women answering the survey was small. In terms of salaries of those taking part in the survey, the average yearly female salary was around £61,640 while the average for male participants was higher at £86,392. More than half also said that men need to be more involved in helping to create a more inclusive culture in the sector, an increase from 23% last year and 40% the year before.   

Many in the sector believe that there should be a concerted effort by employers not only to encourage more women into the sector but to promote a sharper focus on building a more widely inclusive workforce. That starts by understanding the barriers that prevent a more equitable representation of women in tech so they can be properly addressed, from difficulties in attracting more women into the sector from school and university, to successfully retaining them within their organisations through an understanding of the issues they face and a commitment to fair progress. 

Many businesses working with the Purpose Business Coalition are already attracting and retaining  more diverse workforces. Aerospace company, Leonardo, runs a successful apprenticeship scheme which offers people of all backgrounds the chance to learn the cutting edge skills that tech companies need. It also has an ambitious gender target, aiming for 30% of its UK organisation to be female by 2025, and runs a STEM Returner Scheme that helps ensure that skilled women do not drop out of the workplace.  Energy infrastructure and solutions provider, Smart Metering Systems (SMS) plc, offers an apprenticeship programme and also runs a Training Academy that delivers technical training and skills in Bolton, a city which has previously struggled to attract investment. The global digital business services company, Teleperformance, which features in a number of best places to work lists, celebrates the achievements of the women who work there in its TP Women scheme but also drives positive change by addressing their issues in the workplace. 

The financial services sector has a key role to play in developing a talent pool for high tech skills. Virgin Money’s A Life More Virgin initiative delivers a more flexible approach to work that facilitates the needs of women’s commitments outside work as well as giving the company an  advantage in terms of talent retention and the recruitment of a diverse resource pool.  Another partner in the financial services sector, Aldermore, has set a target of increasing the number of women represented in senior management roles to 30% in 2023 and 50% representation by 2025.

These businesses have recognised that a focus on addressing the gender divide will pay dividends for the company and their employees and through their proactive policies are closing the skills gap by widening opportunity.