Cisco tackles VAR skills deficit

Vendor highlights shortage of skilled staff as a major hindrance to growth

Fit4Talent: The Cisco scheme aims to help partners retain their skilled workers

Networking giant Cisco has issued the channel with a call to action in helping ease the IT skills shortages blighting VARs.

The vendor claims problems recruiting and retaining highly skilled staff is still a big growth inhibitor for partners despite the downturn easing.

As a result, Cisco is increasing its focus on its Fit4Talent scheme, which is aimed at helping partners retain their skilled workforce, while providing them with holistic support during the course of their employment life.

Seventy-three UK partners have so far signed up to the scheme. Key features include access to events, educational resources and a web portal that allows partners to search for suitable job candidates.

Beth Rowland, global talent lead for the partner talent programme, said: “There is a lot of demand for highly skilled people across the industry, which results in many of them jumping ship to a competitor and taking their expertise with them.”

Mike Mihalop, head of resourcing at NSCGlobal, praised Cisco’s scheme. “The support was above and beyond that of any other vendor we have dealt with,” he said.

Indeed recent figures from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills Ambition 2020 report predicts the creation of two million new jobs between now and 2020 in the UK, many of those in the IT services market, which means competition for the best people is going to get even tougher.

Figures from skills body e-skills also predict intense activity in the IT and telecoms markets in particular with more than half a million new skilled professionals needed over the next five years to meet changing demand.

E-skills claims the number of IT and telecoms professionals is expected to grow at around four times the average UK rate over the next 10 years.

Karen Price, chief executive of e-skills UK, said: “The IT and telecoms sector provides the engine for productivity and future growth across the whole of the UK economy.”