Nine in ten UK execs point to IT skills gap in their business

New report from CompTIA claims skills gap 'threatens the livelihood of businesses across the country'

More than nine in 10 UK executives believe there is at least some form of IT skills gap in their business, according to the latest research from CompTIA.

The International Technology Adoption and Workforce Trends Study surveyed more than 1,500 IT and business executives and found that 92 per cent of execs in the UK thought there was an IT skills gap in their company.

Rob Partridge, head of the BT Security Academy, said new methods need to be adopted to address this issue.

"We see a significant talent shortage in the UK and we have been proactively providing educational materials for schools and developing national IT talent competitions to help address this problem," he said.

"We believe the IT industry seriously needs to consider looking beyond university degrees and attracting and developing talent through vocational qualifications, new forms of online learning, and apprenticeships."

Mike Brooman, director at audiovisual firm Vanti, said: "It is not surprising that this survey reveals UK companies are still experiencing a skills gap across the UK. We have experienced problems with finding skilled staff, despite the reported youth unemployment in our city."

Some 44 per cent of those surveyed said the skills gap led to lower staff productivity, 30 per cent said it hampered customer service and 26 per cent said it affected innovation.

Estelle Johannes, CompTIA's UK director for member communities, said: "The impact of the skills gap threatens the livelihood of businesses across the country, from information security to customer service and more needs to be done to tackle this growing problem.

"But building and managing talent requires a concerted effort, resources and time. There is rarely a quick fix to addressing skills gaps."

Despite the report indicating that the skills gap is limiting business, the CompTIA report found that 62 per cent of UK execs expected 2015 to hold better business conditions than 2014 did.