IT skills must be taught younger, say IT pros on CWJobs
4 July 2012
Just under half (49%) of IT professionals think children should start learning tech skills from age eight or younger and 64% think tech firms are not doing enough to attract young people to the industry.
Wed, 4 Jul 2012
Just under half (49%) of IT professionals think children should start learning tech skills from age eight or younger and 64% think tech firms are not doing enough to attract young people to the industry.
This is according to a survey of nearly 600 professionals by IT recruitment website CWJobs.co.uk.Among the measures seen as potentially critical to this, a greater offering of apprenticeships (66%) comes ahead of sponsoring university degrees (51%).
Although 39% of respondents felt that IT was not thought of as a ‘fun’ industry, there were three key areas seen as most attractive to young people – namely social media (39%) followed by mobile (21%) and gaming (17%).
The website’s director Richard Nott says: “Britain’s place on the IT world map is precarious – with a lack of investment largely to blame.
“The IT industry currently contributes £81bn to the UK economy – and this has the potential to grow given the sustained demand on IT to support evolving business and consumer needs. For the UK to take advantage of this potential, we need to invest in the next generation of IT talent, to ensure we have the workforce to deliver success.”
Just under half (49%) of IT professionals think children should start learning tech skills from age eight or younger and 64% think tech firms are not doing enough to attract young people to the industry.
This is according to a survey of nearly 600 professionals by IT recruitment website CWJobs.co.uk.Among the measures seen as potentially critical to this, a greater offering of apprenticeships (66%) comes ahead of sponsoring university degrees (51%).
Although 39% of respondents felt that IT was not thought of as a ‘fun’ industry, there were three key areas seen as most attractive to young people – namely social media (39%) followed by mobile (21%) and gaming (17%).
The website’s director Richard Nott says: “Britain’s place on the IT world map is precarious – with a lack of investment largely to blame.
“The IT industry currently contributes £81bn to the UK economy – and this has the potential to grow given the sustained demand on IT to support evolving business and consumer needs. For the UK to take advantage of this potential, we need to invest in the next generation of IT talent, to ensure we have the workforce to deliver success.”
