DIGITAL SKILLS ARE IN DEMAND

Tech job opportunities have hit a 10-year high with the explosion in demand for tech products and services over the past two years, resulting in strong hiring for techrelated roles across the country.

More than 80 per cent of all UK jobs need digital skills, according to the government. Companies need their staff to be able to use business software, digital communication tools and project management platforms. But not enough employees can do so effectively.

Small and medium-sized businesses are struggling as much as corporates, with one in five lacking the advanced digital skills they need to operate, according to the Small Business Britain 2021 report,

Even IT companies are finding it difficult to employ staff with the right skills says The Open University. Employers responding to its survey acknowledged that better digital skills would improve profitability and productivity. And almost half of respondents think upskilling current employees would help them avoid expensive new hires.

Cirencester College’s new £4.48 million digital skills centre will go some way to meet the need in Gloucestershire where the cyber sector is growing fast.

At the centre’s official opening, College Principal, Jim Grant, said: “This new facility is part of the challenge to reintroduce digital skills post 16 after many drop IT-related studies in schools. Digital skills are a major part of all of our lives, at home and in work, and it is our plan to develop these skills in all our learners not just those who study IT-related courses.”

Other regional universities and colleges are also increasing their digital courses.

In February, Gloucestershire College was the first in the region to launch new Level 2 online cyber security and coding short courses to support the local demand.

The University of Bristol has received £1 million from the Garfield Weston Foundation to help build a new hub for digital learning in the city, it will be home for the Bristol Digital Futures Institute, an international University Research Institute pioneering transformative approaches to digital innovation.

The new Swindon and Wiltshire Institute of Technology (SaWIOT) is a collaboration between regional and national organisations which have invested in new facilities focusing on high level skills.

And in the north of our region, a new multimillion-pound digital skills and innovation hub in Nuneaton has taken another step forward. North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College has plans to operate a Digital Skills and Innovation Centre as part of proposals to create a new campus on Abbey Street.

The £8 million funding has been secured from the government’s Towns Fund and Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council.

Final proposals from the council and development partner Queensberry are expected to be discussed by the authority’s planning committee in late summer.