Skout HQ was shocked today to read a report from Prolific North that claims that almost a third of North West digital businesses turned down work last year due to lack of staff with the right skills set.
These findings come from Manchester Digital, an independent trade association for digital business in the region following its latest skills audit research. The Digital Skills Audit showed that 32 per cent were unable to take on new projects during 2013 due to a lack of resource despite the fact that a whopping 83 per cent of businesses experienced growth during that period.
The purpose of this annual audit is to highlight the real issues facing this sector. Manchester Digital plans to work with local and regional government, educators and other relevant bodies to help resolve this lack of skills in the North West.
These results of this research were shared at the opening of the Digital Skills Festival which is at Manchester Town Hall until Friday of this week. It also revealed that developers are hard to find in the North West; almost half of the businesses surveyed (47 per cent) have had to inflate salaries to remain competitive in the job market; and salaries for developers are increasing on average by 16 per cent.
We think these findings are quite alarming and it’s a real lost opportunity for any digital PR or B2B PR agency that has to turn down work. Let’s hope Manchester Digital is able find a solution to this skills gap problem soon and put the North West back on the digital map!
