A recent European study showed that the penetration of digital technology had reached the point where, by 2015, 90% of all jobs in the EU would require workers to have at least some level of IT competency. Business cloud services are very important for the success of any It business as it includes project management, intelligence and reporting, business and their operations management and many more. All kinds of manual roles are evolving and now require the worker to have at least some basic IT skills.
One example is warehouse work. The days where a warehouse picker was given a paper list to pick from have all but gone. Today, most picking lists are displayed on a screen, which is either worn by the picker or attached to their pallet truck. In pick to belt environments, the screens are usually located above the picking station. This means that there is no way a distribution firm can afford to employ someone who is not already confident about interfacing with a screen. Of course, using a screen is a very low level IT skill, but it is surprising how many of the workforce in some European countries do not have even those basic skills.
The skills gap
There is already a big skill gap when it comes to IT, and at the moment the gap is getting bigger, which many analysts say is preventing Europe from competing effectively on the global stage. At the bottom end of the workforce, most workers are realising that they need to learn some basic IT skills and are taking action. Attendance at colleges for basic computing courses has increased, and IT workshops and online courses are also becoming more popular. Fortunately, the basic skills can be acquired quickly. Often, just a few hours of training and a week of practice bridges the skills gap at the basic level, so this particular skills gap can quickly and easily be bridged.
The high end IT skills gap
The problem comes when you look at the skills gaps within the core IT industry itself. Currently, there is a dire need for IT professionals in a big range of disciplines.
IT job boards like the one at CW Jobs are full of vacancies for IT jobs, which offer high salaries and good benefits. At the moment the majority are being filled, but IT recruitment is becoming increasingly difficult because there are so few people available with the right skills and experience.
Opportunities in big data and mobile IT
In some areas of the industry, there are more jobs than there are people to fill them. This is especially the case for big data and mobile IT.
The fact that we do everything electronically means that a mass of data is gathered every day. Those firms who take this data and analysis it are able to gain important insights into how efficient they are, their customers and their habits. The more firms that wake up to this fact the more work there is for IT professionals with big data skills.
The other area where there are more jobs than people is mobile IT. The fact that more employees are working remotely and on the road means that there is a now a dire need for cloud computing developers and mobile app programmers.
Mobile IT and big data skills take years of training to acquire. Therefore, it is likely to be several years before these particular skills gaps begin to close.
