A European-wide shortage of up to half a million people with advanced networking technology skills by 2008 will threaten UK competitiveness, research by IDC has warned.
The report entitled Networking Skills in Europe: Will an Increasing Shortage Hamper Competitveness in the Global Market, was commissioned by Cisco. It found that although the UK will improve its ranking against other European nations - from its 2005 position of 10th, to first by 2008 - the size of the estimated number of people required to fill this gap - 39,500 - is still much larger than most European nations.
Reasons cited for the skills shortage included extensive advanced technology adoption in Europe and the rapid growth of e-business coupled with insufficient training programmes.
“While the UK is closing the skills gap in percentage terms, the massive number of people required to meet demand means British businesses will still face a significant challenge to ensure their growth plans are not stifled through a lack of trained personnel,” said Nick Watson, managing director enterprise, at Cisco Systems UK & Ireland.
“Some targeted investments in education and training could significantly reduce the figure," he added.
Beatrice Rogers, government policy manager at trade body Intellect, said: " Intellect has been saying for some time now that IT is central to the UK's growth. This skills shortage threatens our economy and quality of life, and therefore the government and industry should invest in training and education now."
Mike Lawrence, managing director of VAR Bentpenny, said: "Every single computer dealer is involved in networking of some sort. Although the majority have a basic knowledge of networking there is a real shortage of really knowledgeable people, ones that know about things like transport layers for example. The problem stems from the government not providing the funding needed by colleges for the relevant training and education."
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