Skills Survey. March 2013

Transcription

1 Skills Survey March

2 Foreword The UK s digital content and Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector has a strong reputation for innovative technology and design. Digital content and ICT industries account for 45,800 jobs in the Greater Manchester area and generate around 2bn p.a. of economic output, it is also the second largest cluster of digital and creative businesses in the UK. In the wider North West, almost 103,000 people work in the Digital Content and ICT sector1. Manchester Digital Manchester Digital represents the thriving digital sector in the North West of England. A not- for- profit association run by and for its members, it is based on the simple idea that by working together we can make Manchester and the north west an even better place for digital business. A large part of Manchester Digital s activity is dedicated to the development of skills and talent to support the region s vibrant and growing digital sector. In February 2013 Manchester Digital held its Digital Skills Summit, the 2 day event is the largest of its kind in the North and consists of TalentDay, a careers fair for student s considering a career in digital and a conference that brings together businesses and education providers. Over 1000 students attended TalentDay and over 50 of the region s leading creative, digital and IT businesses were offering jobs, placements and work experience opportunities. The conference focussed on new approaches to learning and how digital businesses can benefit from using a variety of different schemes and approaches to recruitment and talent development. By bringing together leading digital businesses, policymakers and educational institutions, Manchester Digital is helping to shape future policy and the provision of digital education. It is also an opportunity for employers and educators to share and discuss the latest intelligence on the digital skills agenda. The association plays a pivotal role throughout the year connecting talent and business by promoting the range of careers available and by liaising with education providers to ensure the output is complementary to the needs of the industry. The Skills Summit brings unparalleled focus to talent and skills issues and through large- scale collaboration develops and delivers strategies and initiatives to resolve them. 1 Source: Business Register & Employment Survey,

3 Ahead of the two- day event, Manchester Digital distributed a survey to its members to gain factual insights into the provision and demand for digital talent in the region. The purpose of the survey was to gain an insight into the structure and organisation of businesses within digital, to establish the most pressing issues and concerns these businesses are currently facing and to gain an understanding of the apparent gap between the needs and demands of this sector and the provision and availability of local talent. Chair of Manchester Digital, Tony Foggett presented and discussed the results at the Skills Summit conference. This report is an in- depth analysis of the survey, which was completed by 65 members of the association. Summary of key themes and insights Employers report a large number of hard- to- fill vacancies. Technical development is a particularly difficult area to fill for companies. There is a significant issue with mismatch of applicants abilities to the needs of the job, especially in regards to entry- level talent. Despite the diverse range of businesses across the digital sector, the lack of resources in development and / or developers capabilities is the most pressing issue for the majority of respondents. There is a clear perception that the educational system is not adequately preparing young people for a career in the digital industries. 3

4 Analysis Q1: What type of business are you? The result is comparatively in line with findings reported by New Economy in their wider piece of research into the digital economy, although skewed by the historic membership of Manchester Digital being agencies 2. The Digital Content and ICT industries are growing rapidly and forecasted to grow by over 70% by Employment is expected to grow more modestly but is still estimated at a healthy 16% 3. The below chart provides a detailed breakdown of the types of digital business that are in the region and make- up the Manchester Digital membership. 2 Source: The Digital Content and ICT Sector in Greater Manchester. New Economy, Source: Greater Manchester Forecasting Model,

5 Q2: Please tick the categories that best describe digital activity within your business. Categories % Web Design Social Media Web Project Management Mobile Strategy & Planning User Experience & Usability Marketing B2B Marketing Content Marketing & Strategy Web Analytics Online Copywriting Search Marketing E- Commerce Online Advertising Conversion Rate Optimisation Online PR Multichannel Marketing Customer Experience Video & Rich Media Animation 2D Animation 3D Affiliate Marketing Community Management ecrm Games Development 9.80 Online Customer Service 9.80 Connected TV 5.88 Visual fx

6 Q3. How many people do you currently employ? The typical company employs 30 people full time, 2 people part time and 2 freelancers. 6

7 Q4: Please could you tell us roughly how your workforce is split? The survey s results show a shift in workforce split from communications to platforms. A growing emphasis is placed on production and build. This shows a major mismatch between talent requirement and the talent pipeline: the number of computer science students is constantly falling while the number of creative arts and design students is on the rise. On TalentDay, 36% of the attending students expressed an interest in creative and a further 11% in marketing, while only 22% enquired about development roles. IT & Infrastructure User Experience Strategy Sales & Markeeng Client Service / Liaison Project Management Development Creaeve HR & Training Admin & Finance Management 3% 4% 2% 5% 7% 8% 8% 11% 11% 17% 23% 7

8 Q5: Do you have dedicated roles with the responsibility for the acquisition of talent in your organisation? If yes, then what are those roles? If no, who looks after it? Over one third reported to have no such roles at all, many said that within their company, talent acquisition was contained within other roles, such as senior management or HR manager is responsible and takes 50% of their time. 8

9 Q6: What are the 3 most difficult roles to fill? (If developer, please specify languages) The vast majority of respondents found that roles within development were the most difficult ones to fill, again alluding to the lack of available and capable talent in this area. 9

10 Respondents specified the following languages, which revealed that this issue is most prevalent in back- end development. 10

11 Q7: Which skill sets will grow in importance to your business / output over the next 24 months? In accordance with the business shift discussed in question 4, more than three quarters of the respondents expected to see a growth in development, including mobile development. Q8: Are there any roles that you think you will be need less of in the next 2-3 years? The majority of respondents do not anticipate a decreased need of any roles but some expect less traditional marketing roles such as telemarketers, print design or account managers who haven t evolved their digital understanding. Some also assume that PHP developers will be needed less. 11

12 Q9: Which methods are the most effective when sourcing new talent? (Please score each one out of ten) Interestingly, peer recommendation came out top, internal recommendation second and social media third. This could be due to the fact, that these methods tend to be cost efficient but it could also be argued that many recruitment agencies are not perceived as being able to supply the required talent. Another revealing result is that respondents find local advertising much more effective than national. This could be interpreted as a positive sign in terms of the availability of local talent. 12

13 Q10: Which jobs do you most outsource or use freelance talent for? The fact that development was by far the most popular response highlights the discrepancy between business activities that require development work, and the availability of local talent to fill this growing demand. 13

14 Q11: In the last 12 months, what percentage of your work has been done by? The survey found that 10% of work is currently not done in- house. Q12: What do you imagine the answer to the above question will be in 12- months time? Respondents expected more work to be done by permanent in- house staff rather by freelancers and were also positive about an increase of local out- sourcing rather than having to rely on companies in the rest of the UK or abroad. 14

15 Q13: Have you had to turn away work as a result of being unable to find the right talent? Almost 45% of respondents reported that they have had to turn work away. This is an alarming figure and demonstrates the sheer demand for digital work in the region. 15

16 Q14: If yes, can you estimate a monetary value for this over the last 3 years? Most respondents could not put a monetary value against this. However, based on those who did, the financial loss of having to turn work away was almost 100,000 on average per company across a 3- year period. Q15: Do you or your business recruit graduates? 36% of the region s creative and digital businesses employ 70% - 100% staff educated to degree level or above, hence 80% of respondents said that their business engaged in graduate recruitment. 16

17 Q16: Do you run your own graduate scheme? Despite most businesses recruiting graduates, only one third have a graduate scheme available at the company. It could be argued that those businesses that do run such a scheme are more likely to attract entry- level talent than those that don t. Q17: Over the last 3 years, what percentage of your entry- level talent has come from local educational institutions? The answers to this question were extremely varied, ranging from 0% - 100%. The average percentage of entry- level talent that came from local universities and colleges was 48%. Q18: Which roles do you find hardest to fill from local universities or colleges? The result of this question clearly highlights the fact that entry- level roles within development are equally as difficult to fill as more senior positions. Another startling finding is that over a quarter of respondents said that they found all roles hard to fill, which mirrors the perception that local educational institutions do not currently provide the right students with the skills and qualifications that businesses require. 17

18 Q19: Have you taken on apprentices in the last 3 years? More than 48% of businesses had taken on apprentices which shows a positive trend towards the availability of entry- level positions as well as the businesses willingness to employ young people with little or no previous work experience. Q20: If yes, did the apprenticeship meet you expectations? Although the majority of respondents found that the apprentices had met their expectations, it was still a large number reporting that they had not. The main reasons stated were the intensity and time of training required and a mismatch of expectations. 18

19 Q21: If no, what stopped you? In accordance with the previous question, the survey found that businesses that did not offer apprenticeships mostly did not have the capacity and/or ability. Others also found the cost versus productivity ineffective and/or perceived potential applicants to below their expected level of quality. 19

20 Q22: How could Manchester Digital help your organisation and staff to learn and adapt? Based on the survey s findings, Manchester Digital will continue to: Facilitate networking Host conferences, discussions and forums Enable access to training and events Provide recruitment opportunities (especially for local and entry- level talent) Promote the North West s digital landscape across the UK and beyond 20