Critical skills gap in IT sector, most departments don’t have staff to support them

Digitally transforming customer experiences forces IT to innovate quickly yet more disruptively. Securing each new application and platform requires new cyber security techniques and technologies most IT departments don’t have staff to support them.

According to Skillsoft’s Global Knowledge 2021 IT Skills and Salary Report, 76% of IT decision-makers worldwide face critical skills gaps in their departments increasing 145% since 2016. At the same time, 50% of IT departments say cyber security is their most important area of investment, followed by cloud computing, governance and compliance.

The report states that many in IT are asked to do two or more jobs at once. “55% of IT decision-makers says the skills gap’s greatest impact on enterprises today is increased stressed on employees. However, overworking IT teams isn’t the solution, even in the short term, as enterprises say they have difficulty meeting quality objectives – about 42%, decreased ability to meet business objectives 36% and often see project durations increase 35%.”

IT decision-makers, due to time and resource constraints, have been unsuccessful in filling at least one position, and 38% have three or more positions needed to fill. The report highlights that the pace of technological change and the intense pressure on IT teams to innovate contributes to the widening skill gap. “Just over a third that is 38%, of IT decision-makers believe the rate of technological change is quickly outpacing their existing skills development program as the primary driver, followed by difficulties attracting qualified candidates and a lack of investment in training resources. In addition, 25% of enterprises say they cannot afford to pay the salaries that experienced in-demand IT professionals want.”

IT leaders said the sector is under the greatest pressure to innovate in cyber security. 51% of enterprises are actively investing in new cyber security systems and platform. For the sixth straight year, cyber security professionals are the most sought after globally. And 28% of managers worldwide, as per the report, said cloud computing is the second most difficult hiring area. In addition, cloud adoption rates are outpacing training, so IT decision-makers struggle to find the right individuals to keep up with the evolving technology needs.

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It cannot be denied that IT professionals with cloud computing, cyber security, analytics and big data and AI, and machine learning skills are the most in-demand today and regularly receive invitations for new jobs.