This whitepaper discusses the growing digital skills gap faced by organizations worldwide. It defines the skills gap as the shortage of candidates with the necessary digital skills to fill open roles. This skills gap is estimated to cost UK businesses £63 billion per year and is a threat to their ability to stay competitive. The whitepaper explores the impact of the skills gap on business profitability and expansion. It also provides advice on how organizations can improve their recruitment strategies to attract and retain top digital talent to help bridge the skills gap.

1. an
INSIGHTINTO
whitepaper
The Digital Skills Gap and How to
Attract & Keep the Best Candidates

2. Foreword
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3. Gap
/gap/
noun
a break or hole in an object
or between two objects
3

4. A global declaration was made in
early 2011 by digital avant-gardes
everywhere – the world is
suffering from a skills gap and if
we don’t act now, innovation will
be halted and economies will fail.
In short, our demand for digital
expertise in the workplace far
exceeds the volume of candidates
with the right skills to deliver
the job. Thus, creating the
£63billion per annum Digital
Skills Gap.
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5. Fast forward to 2018 and the threat
to UK businesses is growing – it is
estimated that the shortfall of
candidates has reached 40,000 people
and 75% of organisations believe that
addressing the skills shortage is the
only way they can stay competitive.
So, what does this mean for the
senior management teams, HR and IT
departments, and start-ups that are
trying to future-proof their business
through digital innovation?
75%
of organisations believe
that addressing the
skills shortage is the
only way they can stay
competitive
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6. The very definition of a ‘gap’ in the
digital eco-system would suggest distance
between an employer of digital skills and
the talent itself.
This whitepaper will explore in detail the
impact the Digital Skills Gap can have on
profitability and expansion. Offering
insight and advice for how an organisation
can redevelop its recruitment strategy to
tackle ‘the war on talent’, the paper will
examine the challenge in remaining
competitive in our ever-changing digital
landscape.
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7. Section 1 - Total
Impact: The Effect of
the Skills Gap on
Businesses Worldwide
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8. Tech innovation has completely
reformed the business eco-system.
This is the era of 1-click shopping, AI
marketing automations and augmented
reality. Every element of a customer
experience is expected to be slick, quick
and above all else – digital.
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9. If you want to accelerate your business
growth and profitability in the digital
decade, it is now integral that you keep up
with the Joneses and make sure a digital
transformation strategy is included in your
five-year plan.
For many businesses, this requires major
overhauls to process, profit and people
in order to maintain any kind of
competitive edge.
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10. What are the benefits
of joining…
the digital uprising?
Measurability
Tracking and analytics
allows you to measure
real-time customer
engagement to
understand true value
of product
Automation
Manual controls over
systems allow for human
error and wastes
hundreds of business
hours
Optimisation
Allows you to learn and
adjust so you can make
the biggest impact with
minimal effort
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11. Security
Back-ups and cloud-
based solutions
provides better
protection for
businesses that are
expanding
Customer care
Customer expectations
are at an all-time high
so meeting the demand
keeps your customers
happy and drives
loyalty
Personalisation
Targeted offers and
actions increases brand
advocacy and improves
experience
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12. It is now estimated that 20% of all
market leaders will lose dominant
positions within a sector to a company
founded after the year 2000 because of
the lack in digital advances.
Despite having a digital strategy in place,
the majority of these sectors profess to not
having the resource in their organisation to
drive the plan forward.
Which industries are most concerned
about digital disruption?
72%
53%
61%
57%
57%
64%
52%
43%
51%
50%
47%
52%
Media
Consumer Finance
Services
Technology
Consumer Products
Education
Health Care
Telecom
Retail
Insurance
Non-profit
Business Services
Asset wealth
management
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13. To be innovative and competitive in
today’s global digital economy,
organizations have little choice but to
invest in information and communication
technologies (ICT).
However, without the proper skills to
put these technologies to effective use,
firms are at significant risk of wasting
their investments and missing key
opportunities for growth and
competitiveness.
IDC, empirica & INSEAD for the European
Commission
e-Leadership: Skills for competitiveness and
innovation
“
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14. Therefore, in order to become a
competitive, early adopter of
technological advancement with the
slickest customer experience on the
market, you need the right people on the
bus to get you there.
The emergence of a gap
and the challenge of
bridging it
The Open University Business Barometer
finds that 90% of employers have found
it difficult to recruit workers with
the required digital talent at the
level of salary advertised.
Consequently, 51% of businesses across
Manchester (compared to 56%
nationally) have inflated salaries to
attract more mid-senior level talent.
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15. Statistics show that this rate of
inflation is costing UK
businesses more than £2billion a
year in higher salaries adding to
the already ridiculously high
£63billion in lost additional GDP
a year.
This translates to an additional
£4,150 per hire, per year for SMEs
and a whopping £5,575 per hire, per
year for larger companies on the pay
roll.
Developer salaries have seen the
largest rates of inflation averaging
at a 40% increase.
So how can organisations future-
proof their operations without
compromising on profitability
and resource?
££4,150
Per hire
££2 BILLION
A YEAR
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16. To receive a free, exclusive copy of
the full Insight Into: The Digital
Skills Gap whitepaper, follow our
LinkedIn page today.
+44 (0)161 710 2317
Insight IT & Engineering
Recruitment LinkedIn
insight-rec.com
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