The UK IT workforce: Official stats unveiled

e-skills UK has released key figures about the IT and telecoms workforce in the UK and called for several changes in education to help satisfy employers' demands. The government body has put a number on the trickiest of figures, saying there are now 1.2 million IT and communications workers in the UK. However, not everything is rosy in the market. Among e-skills UK suggestions are:

• quicker updating of higher and further education courses to reflect employer needs
• funding for training in "small discrete packages", especially for SMEs
• more rounded degree courses

Other top priorities - echoing past silicon.com skills surveys - include developing the skills of existing IT professionals and forging closer links between employers and educational establishments. Further problems include a concentration of skilled individuals in London and the south east of England and the number of graduates with IT qualifications who then don't work in the industry. UK and regional reports on this subject are available for £95 or, for e-skills members, £60 at www.e-skills.com/publications while further information can be found at www.esib.co.uk . The key findings:
UK IT workforce comprises 1.2 million professionals
Sectors:
IT and telecoms, 39 percent
public services, 18 per cent
manufacturing, 17 per cent
sales and leisure, 13 percent
business services, eight per cent
financial services, six percent
Regions (highest):
SE England, 19 percent;
London, 13 percent
Regions (lowest):
NE England, five percent;
Northern Ireland, five percent.

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