Network Communications News (NCN) April 2016 | Page 5

editorial

COLUMN

Talent show

B

eing in the middle of National
Apprentice Week it is perhaps
appropriate to return to the
theme of apprentices within
the IT industry. Over the past
few years apprenticeships
have enjoyed something of
a renaissance in the UK, with 499,900
apprenticeship starts in the England
alone in 2014/15 - up 14 per cent on the
previous year.
Traditionally associated with the
construction trades, the government
has made a concerted effort to push the
apprenticeship model across a multitude
of different sectors and it now seems
to be paying off. A new levy is being
introduced to encourage companies
to take on additional apprenticeships,
something that has been broadly
welcomed by organisations involved in
the IT industry. The growing skills gap

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is set to become one of the biggest
issues facing the IT infrastructure sector
and only by encouraging the next
generation to start their career with an
apprenticeship can the industry look to
truly address the problem.
Firms are now being forced to look
further afield than ever before when
recruiting new staff and most would
rather invest their time and money in
young, enthusiastic workers with the
talent to progress rapidly up the career
ladder. A recent survey has shown that
67 per cent of businesses list finding the
right IT apprentice talent as one of the
biggest challenges they face and 83 per
cent of decision makers are planning to
use IT apprenticeships as part of their
plan to fill skills gaps in the future.
The apprenticeship appears to
be in rude health at the moment, with
businesses, schools and parents all

recognising the opportunities that an
‘earn as you learn’ model can offer
to young people. The government
is hoping to generate three million
new apprentices over the course of its
administration so it does appear that,
for the time being, everyone is rowing
in the same direction. If those in the
IT sector are serious about tackling
the skills shortage then they must fully
embrace apprenticeships and extol the
virtues of a career in IT at every available
opportunity - the future of the industry
depends on it.

Michael Crane
Editor

21/03/2016 09:29