UK | Skills crisis writes Insider deputy editor Ben Pindar

Insider deputy editor Ben Pindar looks at the prospect of a skills crisis in the burgeoning digital sector.

Earlier this year, I wrote here about how a skills crisis was holding back businesses in the region, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

The piece followed an interview with Prime Minister David Cameron challenging him to tackle the issue and stop ignoring the nation’s “dirty little secret” – a swathe of poorly educated youngsters who fail to meet the needs of today’s modern businesses.

Fast forward six weeks and my attention has been switched to Yorkshire’s rapidly-growing digital and technology sector. This is a dynamic, trendy and hugely-popular industry that is being heralded as a key element in our battle to return to prosperity.

Likewise, the cutting edge technology and constant strive for innovation is presumed to be hugely attractive as the next generation looks for a career.

However, at Insider’s Digital & Technology Awards and a round table I hosted for the winners with Kcom just days later, the poor standard of new recruits was again the hot topic.

The business leaders admit the dynamic nature of the sector is making it hard to predict what the industry will require four years down the line, but complain teachers are talking about issues they don’t understand.

It would therefore appear that even a trendy sector like the digital and technology industry suffers the same problem – an apathetic younger generation with little in the way of life skills and who expect the world to hand them what they want on a plate.

And therein lies the problem. We need a significant culture shift to remove unrealistic expectations, once again show apprenticeships lead to a profession rather than a trade and that to get something in life, you have to work for it.

Source:

Read More @ Insider News Yorkshire – In Focus: Skills crisis.

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