Technology Counts IT & Telecoms Insights 2010 · 4. IT & Telecoms in the UK - the current position (see section 4) There are nearly 4,000 workplaces in the IT & Telecoms industry

Technology CountsIT & Telecoms Insights 2010

United Kingdom England Northern Ireland ScotlandWales

© Copyright e-skills UK Sector Skills Council Ltd 2000-2009

Technology Counts IT & Telecoms Insights 2010

© 2009 Reserved, e-skills UK

All rights reserved. No part of this material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilised in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior authorisation and credit to e-skills UK.

An e-skills UK publication

For further information please contact:

e-skills UK The Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology, including Software, Internet & Web, IT Services, Telecommunications and Business Change.

Creating the skills for Digital Britain Rated Outstanding - Sector Skills Councils Relicensing 2009

1 Castle Lane London SW1E 6DR UK t: +44 (0)20 7963 8920f: +44 (0)20 7592 9138e: [email protected]: www.e-skills.com


e-skills UK Board List

IT & Telecoms Industry Board

David Thomlinson Country Managing Director, UK & Ireland Accenture

Sally Davis Chief Executive BT

John Pluthero Executive Chairman, UK Cable & Wireless

Phil Smith VP and Chief Executive, UK & Ireland Cisco

Craig Wilson Managing Director and VP, UK and Ireland HP Enterprise Services

Larry Hirst (Chair, e-skills UK) Chair, EMEA IBM

Andy Green (Chair) CEO Logica

Gordon Frazer MD, UK and VP, MS International Microsoft

David Callaghan Senior Vice President Oracle

Gayna Hart MD Quicksilva

A. S. Lakshminarayanan Vice President and Head - Europe Tata Consultancy Services

Nick Read CEO of Asia-Pacific & Middle East Regions Vodafone

CIO Board

Paul Coby (Chair) CIO British Airways

Lesley Hume CIO Cabinet Office

Simon Post Chief Technology Officer Carphone Warehouse

Peter Pedersen Chief Technology Officer Figleaves

Ailsa Beaton Director of Information Metropolitan Police Service

David Lister CIO National Grid

Catherine Doran Director Corporate Development Network Rail

Robin Dargue Group CIO and Technology Director Royal Mail Group

Rob Fraser IT Director Sainsburys

Richard Thwaite CTO, Global Asset Management UBS

Neil Cameron CIO Unilever

Ben Wishart Change and Information Director Whitbread


Employers in Wales Board

Rick Cooper Director Alcatel-Lucent University Alcatel Lucent

Ronan Miles Director of Collaborative Solutions Practice, BT BT Client Services

Chris Goldoni Director Cardiff Financial Partnership

Richard Sheppard Managing Director Draig Technology

Mike Greenway Commercial Director EADS

David Morgan Applications Product Marketing Manager EDS

Alan Pound Head of Public Sector Fujitsu

Ian Clarke Engineering Operations Manager General Dynamics

Terry Killer Skills Manager Microsoft

Cenydd Burden Head of EMEA Client Services Mitel

Christine Bampford Director of OD NLIAH

Joanne Preece Wales Director Steria

Penny Copner Co-ordinator The Regional Social Care Partnership for Wales Andrew Jones Head of Public Sector Valtech

Acknowledgements

e-skills UK would like to thank the following for their contributions:

• e-skills UK board members, and more than 2,300 employers across the UK who participated in new research into employers needs and training.

• Gartner Executive Programs for their insights into global trends.

• Experian for their work on employment forecasting.

• Adroit Economics and Regeneris Consulting for their analysis of the impact of ICT on productivity.


Executive Summary 1

1.0 Introduction 10

2.0 The importance of IT & Telecoms 11 2.1 Scope of the sector 11 2.2 Globalisation and economic developments 14 2.3 Creating ‘Digital Britain’ 16

3.0 The economic and policy environment in Wales 17 3.1 Key economic data 17 3.2 Industries and employment in Wales 18 3.3 Skills and employment policy context 19

4.0 IT & Telecoms in Wales: the current position 21 4.1 The IT & Telecoms industry 21 4.2 The IT & Telecoms workforce 24

5.0 The changing environment - horizon scan 33 5.1 Emerging trends 33 5.2 Implications of emerging trends 37

6.0 Recruitment into IT & Telecoms 39 6.1 IT & Telecoms workforce growth dynamics 2009-2018 39 6.2 Recruitment needs by occupation, growth and replacement demand 41 6.3 Current demand for IT & Telecoms professionals 44

7.0 Skills of the workforce 47 7.1 IT & Telecoms professionals skills 47

8.0 Students and education 53 8.1 Higher Education 53 8.2 Further Education 61 8.3 Schools and Colleges in Wales 65 8.4 Gender 67

9.0 The wider population and use of IT 69

Annex A: IT & Telecoms Professional Occupations 73 Annex B: IT & Telecoms Industrial Classifications 75 Annex C: Glossary 77 Annex D: e-skills procom 78 Annex E: Key Sources of Information 79

Contents

Since 1998 IT & Telecoms GVA contribution in Wales has grown by 84%


Executive Summary

1

1. Introduction (see section 1)

This document summarises the findings of e-skills UK’s recent research to provide an in-depth understanding of the existing IT & Telecoms landscape and forecasts of the future based on the best available intelligence, with new input from over 2,300 employers across the UK including 145 in Wales. On the basis of this research, e-skills UK will continue work with employers and partners across the four nations of the UK. This work will help to ensure that Wales and the UK have the skills for Digital Britain, to secure Britain’s place at the forefront of the global digital economy.

2. The importance of IT & Telecoms (see section 2)

The IT & Telecoms sector provides the engine for productivity and future growth across the whole of the UK economy.

Wales is highly dependent on the IT & Telecoms workforce - it underpins the economy and is integral to information, business and consumer services, health and leisure and modern day social networking. Evidence of the sector's growing importance is illustrated by IT & Telecoms annual Gross Value Added (GVA) contribution having grown by 84% in Wales since 1998, totalling £1.2 billion in 2007.

The UK also has one of the best track records in the world for developing IT-enabled business solutions focused on delivering business value. Specifically, the effective exploitation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is one of the biggest levers Wales has in achieving wholesale productivity gains across the economy. Based on historical evidence, it has been possible to assess the future productivity gains that could be accrued by different sectors and geographies. It is estimated that the continued adoption and exploitation of ICT could generate an additional £1.4 billion of GVA to the Welsh economy over the coming 5 to 7 years, provided companies - particularly smaller companies - take action on the key factors of management & leadership skills, investment and the IT enablement of employees.

3. The economic policy and environment (see section 3)

6% of the 1.25 million people of working age in Wales are unemployed. Those who are in work receive on average £410 per week which is 9% below the UK average. More than half (51%) of this workforce are employed in either Public Administration, Education and Health or Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants. Financial (12%) and Manufacturing (11%) sectors are also notable employers in Wales.

A summary of the skills and employment related policy environment in Wales is included in chapter 3.

The continued adoption and exploitation of ICT could generate an additional £1.4 billion of GVA to the economy of Wales


The IT & Telecoms professional workforce in Wales has more than doubled since 1992

The IT & Telecoms workforce in Wales is highly qualified

1 in 25 people employed in Wales work in IT & Telecoms

2

4. IT & Telecoms in the UK - the current position (see section 4)

There are nearly 4,000 workplaces in the IT & Telecoms industry in Wales - 80% of which are IT and 20% Telecoms. 84% of these are services orientated. Micro firms make up 95% of the number of IT & Telecoms workplaces in Wales but employ just 29% of the actual workforce. By contrast, those with 200 or more employees make up less than 1% of the number of workplaces but employ 36% of the workforce.

4% of people employed in Wales work in the IT & Telecoms workforce (44,000 people). This comprises around 19,000 in the IT & Telecoms industry itself and a further 26,000 working as IT or Telecoms professionals in other industries.

Employment in IT professional occupations in Wales (within and outside of the IT & Telecoms industry itself) has more than doubled since the early 1990s. 34% are now employed as ICT Managers or IT Strategy & Planning Professionals with a further 32% being employed as Software Professionals.

Globalisation is affecting the age profile of IT & Telecoms professionals. The proportion aged 16-29 has dropped from 36% in 2001 to 14% in 2009 as the sector favours experienced workers from other sectors over young recruits from the education system.

The IT & Telecoms workforce is highly qualified. 58% of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales hold a qualification at Level 4 or higher (undergraduate or degree level), compared to 35% for its overall working population. Moreover, only 1% of IT & Telecoms professionals are not qualified to Level 2, compared to 14% of the overall employed workforce.

Gender remains a significant issue, and in 2009, only 17% of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales were female.

© Copyright e-skills UK Sector Skills Council Ltd 2000-2009 3

5. The changing environment - horizon scan (see section 5)

Emerging trends

A key element of the research behind this report was to understand the changing global environment with regard to IT & Telecoms, and its implications. Key forces for change were identified which are shaping the development of technology, the nature of business and the wider economy, including:

• Businessandeconomicfactorssuchastheimpactofglobalisation;theimportanceoftechnology-enabledbusinesstransformation;andthepressureforconstantinnovationin technology-intensive products and services.

• Technologydriven factors suchas increasedstandardisationand industrialisationofIT; convergenceofplatforms,devicesandservices; and theconsequent impactonmarkets and business models.

• Socialfactorssuchasenvironmentalconcernsandthedesirefor‘greenIT’;theriseof social computing and increased power to the consumer to determine content and services;andtheimpactofthenewgenerationof‘digitalnatives’andtheexpectationsthey bring to the workplace and the market.

Specific focus was given to Telecoms, and the impact of changes such as the establishment of a packet-based Internet Protocol (IP) network in the UK, convergence of IT & Telecoms services, and the introduction of new technologies such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).

Implications

Understanding the effects of these forces for change on the workforce is essential if the UK is to take action to remain competitive. The over riding fact is that all communities - the IT & Telecoms workforce, business leaders and managers, and IT users - will require increasingly complex skills at ever higher levels.

The IT & Telecoms workforce

Both software development and many traditional ‘entry level’ jobs are more frequently located off shore, whilst work in the UK is increasingly focused on the application of technology to improve business performance. As IT moves deeper into the heart of businesses, growing importance will be placed on skills such as relationship management, business process analysis and design, project and programme management, business change management, systems architecture, networking, risk management and security. Web and internet specialist skills will be progressively more in demand, as will the partner and contract management skills to manage outsourced work. More generally, IT & Telecoms professionals are increasingly expected to be multi-skilled, with sophisticated business and interpersonal skills as well as technical competence.

The changing environment is having a particular impact on Telecoms professionals, with a decrease in the need for many of the existing, lower level roles, and much greater demand for higher level networking and software orientated roles.


Business leaders need to be able to release the transformational power of IT

4

Business leaders and managers

It will become ever more important for all organisations to be able to release the transformational power of IT, which requires a co-ordinated and integrated business and IT strategy. There is therefore a rapidly increasing need for business leaders and managers todevelop technology-relatedskills; the technologycompetenceof leaders will soon become as important as their financial competence.

IT users

Workers in virtually all occupations need to be able to use more sophisticated IT systems more effectively to create new sources of customer value. Users will need not only increased levels of skills in basic desktop technology, but they will also increasingly need to be skilled in security management and IT support processes and tools.

Employment in IT & Telecoms professional occupations is predicted to grow ten times the average for Wales


6. Recruitment into IT & Telecoms (see section 6)

IT & Telecoms workforce growth dynamics

Work with the forecasting experts Experian concluded that the growth of the IT & Telecoms sector in Wales is predicted to continue strongly to 2018. While employment in the overall workforce in Wales is forecast to increase at just 0.1% per annum for the coming decade, the IT & Telecoms professional workforce is predicted to grow ten times this rate (1% per annum) with growth primarily in ICT Manager, IT Strategy & Planning and Software Professional roles. The number of people employed in lower skilled roles will continue to contract.

However the Telecoms industry is predicted to decline slightly to 2018, at -0.1% per annum, leading to growth of 0.3% per annum for the IT & Telecoms industry combined.

Recruitment needs

In addition to catering for continued growth, recruitment into IT & Telecoms needs to also address ‘replacement demand’ - replacing those who leave the sector due to retirement or for other reasons. This has been modelled for 2008-2013 with detailed information about predicted replacement, growth rates and the sources of new entrants. On top of ‘churn’1 within IT & Telecoms occupations, there is a need for an average of 3,520 new entrants a year into IT & Telecoms professional job roles. Based on current data, the make up of this intake is expected to be as follows:

• 1,840 people a year coming from occupations other than IT or Telecoms (i.e.experienced workers who can be re-trained as IT & Telecoms professionals).

• 660peopleayearcomingfromeducation(predominantlygraduatelevelandhigher).

• 1,020peopleayearcomingfromothersources(e.g.re-enteringtheworkforceafter a career break, early retirement or unemployment).

Current demand

As with many other sectors, demand for IT & Telecoms professionals has declined over the past year as a result of the economic slowdown, both within the UK as a whole and within Wales more specifically. During the second quarter of 2009, there are estimated to have been approximately 640 positions advertised for IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales.

Skills shortages

As for the UK as a whole, the economic downturn has brought with it a significant fall in demand for IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales with the number of positions falling by 40% between 2008-2009 to approximately 640 vacancies during the second quarter of the year.

Less than one in twenty Welsh firms seeking to recruit IT & Telecoms professionals during the final quarter of 2008 stated that they were experiencing difficulties finding applicants with the right skills, qualifications or experience - a much lower proportion than that recorded across the UK as a whole (where around one in ten, or 11%, stated this to be the case).

1 Movement from one IT & Telecoms occupation to another IT & Telecoms occupation

3,520 new entrants a year are required to fill IT & Telecoms professional job roles in Wales

Less than one in twenty firms recruiting IT & Telecoms staff report difficulty finding candidates with the required skills, qualifications or experience


One in ten firms with IT & Telecoms professionals report gaps in the skills of these staff

6

Skills shortages were most often reported by (UK) firms recruiting for programming, technical support and IT & Telecoms management posts. More generally, employers were often found to take issue with the business, technical and sector specific skills/knowledge of candidates for IT & Telecoms posts.

7. Skills of the workforce (see section 7)

Training

Historically, IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales have been more likely than other workers tohave received job-relatededucation/training; adecline indevelopment activityoverrecent years has reversed this trend. As a result, during the second quarter of 2009, whilst 24% of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales were thought to have received some form of job-related education/training (development), the comparison figure for the workforce overall was higher at 30%. IT & Telecoms staff in Wales are however, more likely to have been offered education/training than other workers - 83% stating this to have been the case during the second quarter of 2009.

Where education/training has been received, it is most likely to have been technical in nature, delivered off-the-job and from an educational institution of some sort though employer premises, home learning and training centres are all common options for delivery (UK data). In contrast to other employers across the UK, education/training activity is more likely to be delivered according to a structured approach in Wales as around one half of Welsh firms with IT & Telecoms professionals stated that they have a formal and regular process for identifying and addressing the development needs of these staff.

Current and future skills needs

One in ten Welsh companies with IT & Telecoms professionals consider the skills held by these workers to be at a level below that needed of them (Q1.09), these ‘skills gaps’ are likely to be the result of staff being unable to train due to work commitments (UK).

To bring the skills of IT & Telecoms professionals in line with those currently required by their employers in Wales would require the delivery of approximately 286,000 development units, whilst a further 388,000 additional units are needed over the following 3 years if the balance between skills held by IT & Telecoms professionals and the needed from them is to be maintained.

Initially, development would be required mainly at Lead and Principal level and in the areas of: Programme, Project and Supplier Management, Service Management and Delivery, Leadership and Personal Skills Development. Subsequent development activity would also be required primarily at these levels although there is also a noticeable increase in the requirement for development at Associate and Professional levels. Future activity is tending to be much more heavily targeted at Service Management and Delivery skills with a high volume of training also needed in the areas of Personal Skills Development and Programme, Project and Supplier Management.

Despite the number of applicants to Mathematical and Computer Sciences courses growing since 2004, overall numbers have still declined by 14% since 2002


8. Students and education (see section 8)

Higher Education

From 2002-2008 the total number of applicants to all degree courses in Wales has increased by 7%. By contrast (and despite numbers growing since 2004) the number of applicants to Mathematical and Computer Science courses has declined by 14% over the same time period.

Whilst acceptances over the last four years onto Mathematical and Computer Sciences courses in Wales have grown by 31% the number of qualifiers from Higher Education Institutions (HEI's) in Wales has remained static.

Further Education

IT & Telecoms professional

Of the 9,000 people taking Further Education IT & Telecoms professional courses in Wales during the academic year 2007/08, 90% were delivered through Further Education Institutions, 7% through Adult and Community Learning and 3% via Work Based Learning (WBL).

People choosing the Work Based Learning route were the most and those undertaking Adult and Community Learning the least likely to ‘withdraw’ from their learning. Whilst Further Education had the highest number of completions, Adult and Community Learning had the highest proportion of completions.

Although the majority (56%) of people taking IT & Telecoms qualifications in Wales in 2007/08 were male, notable differences existed depending on route. For example, Work Based Learning courses (77%) and Further Education (57%) were dominated by males whilst those taking the Adult and Community Learning route were largely female.

IT user

Nearly 118,000 people, the majority female, were on IT user courses in Wales during 2007/08. 81% of these were doing so through Further Education Institutions. 78% of all Further Education, Work Based Learning and Adult and Community Learning IT user learning being taken in Wales in 2007/08 were at levels 1 or 2. A further 10% is at entry level or level unknown.

Although both the Adult and Community Learning and Further Education routes had completion rates of 69%, Further Education had, in number, almost 30 times as many completions as those seen through Adult and Community Learning.


ICT A-level uptake in Wales has grown by 153% since 2005

Just over one in six businesses in Wales report having gaps in the IT user skills of their staff

8

Schools and Colleges

Whilst the decline in students in Wales taking A-level Computing mirrors that seen across the UK (a 32% and 35% decrease in numbers respectively), the trend in Wales in the uptake of ICT A-levels is the reverse of that seen across the UK. Numbers in Wales taking ICT A-levels have increased by 153% from 2005 to 2009, whilst across the UK numbers have fallen by 20% over the same time period.

Gender

As is the case in industry, gender imbalance is prevalent and worsening overtime and throughout the education system in IT-related courses and across the UK. In Wales, however, the proportion of females in the various stages of IT education is equal to or greater than UK averages and, in the case of A-level computing, more than double the UK proportion (22% females in Wales and 10% in the UK).

9. The wider population and use of IT (see section 9)

Recruitment

Although almost a third of employers thought the level of applicant IT user skills were generally below that required by the firm (UK), virtually all non-IT & Telecoms positions (96%) advertised by recruiters in Wales during the final quarter of 2008 were thought to require at least some level of IT user skill.

Training

Overall, 9% of UK workers receive IT user skills training each quarter and, in general, individuals are much more likely to have acquired IT user skills via self study or social/work networks as opposed to training organised by their employer (UK).

Current and future skills needs

Just over one in six (17%) Welsh employers reported the existence of gaps in their IT users' skills during the first quarter of 2009 - more than the average figure for the UK as a whole (11%).

To fully bring the skills of IT users in line with those needed by employers in Wales, would require the delivery of around 1.9 million development units, primarily at intermediate level and, for the major part, focused on the area of ‘Using IT to Find & Exchange Information’.

A further 5.3 million development units would then be needed over the coming three years to ensure that employer skills needs and IT user abilities remain in balance - in this case mainly at advanced level and focused primarily on: ‘Improving Productivity Using IT’, ‘Using IT to Find & Exchange Information’ and ‘Using Productivity Tools & Applications’.



2 Sector Skills Councils (SSC) are employer-led organisations that cover specific economic sectors within the UK;theyaimtoimproveproductivityandskills,reduceskillsgapsandshortagesandimprovethelearningsupply within their given sector. SSCs are licensed by the Government and through the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES)

10

The IT & Telecoms sector is recognised as being essential to unlocking potential, contributing to a more prosperous and inclusive society and ensuring that Wales is a global leader in the digital economy. This is evidenced with the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) describing technology as “having an increasing impact on every element of your life”.

e-skills UK is the Sector Skills Council2 for Business and Information Technology; anemployer-led organisation rated as ‘outstanding’ in the re-licensing of the Sector Skills Councils in 2009. e-skills UK’s objective is to work with employers, educators and Government to ensure the UK has the technology skills for Digital Britain.

Building on previous findings, e-skills UK has undertaken research into the UK’s IT & Telecoms workforce, technology trends, opportunities and challenges in order to deliver authoritative labour market intelligence which enables effective influence on policy, strategy and solution development. The resultant suite of publications, ‘Technology Counts: IT & Telecoms Insights 2010’ sets out the current reality, forecasts the future based on the best available intelligence, and assesses the implications for the IT & Telecoms sector.

The reports for the UK, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales build on existing knowledge with new primary research amongst 145 employers in Wales; an analysisoftechnology-relatedtrendsandtheir implicationsforthefuture;updatedemploymentforecastinginlightoftherecession(inpartnershipwithExperian);andadetailedanalysisof the workforce profile and current skills provision.

These reports will inform e-skills UK, government, education providers, employers and the IT & Telecoms sector of the implications of the emerging trends and the changing environment.

On the basis of this research, e-skills UK will continue to work with employers and partners to refine and implement the Strategic Plan for 2009-2014 for Wales, providing:

• Thelatestexpertinputintoe-skillsUK’sstrategyandsectorsolutionsdevelopment.

• Accessibleresearchandintelligenceforemployers,educatorsandothersneedinganin-depth understanding of employer skills needs.

• Influenceongovernmentpolicydevelopmentonbehalfofthesector.

The delivery of this strategic plan will help to ensure that Wales is world class in technology skills - equipped to play a full role in the e-economy over the coming decade, and able to derive maximum benefit from the power of technology to transform business competitiveness, productivity and social inclusion.

1.0 Introduction

“Technology is having an increasing impact on every element of your life. Your career, your business, your child's education, even doing your shopping is being improved through effective use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)”

Welsh Assembly Government


2.0 The importance of IT & Telecoms

11

This section considers the scope of the sector, the importance of IT & Telecoms to the economy of Wales and describes how it fits into efforts to create a ‘Digital Britain’.

2.1 Scope of the sector

The IT & Telecoms sector includes all those employed in the IT & Telecoms industries and those in IT or Telecoms occupations in other sectors. Figure 1 below shows the high level segmentation of this workforce.

Figure 1: IT & Telecoms Workforce in Wales - High Level Segmentation

Population (A)2,959,000

Workforce (B)1,248,000

Total IT & T industry

(C+D)18,600

IT & T professionals in IT & T industry

(C) 10,900 IT & T professionals in other sectors

(E) 25,500All other occupations in

the IT & T industry (D) 7,700

0.0

5.4South East England

London 5.4

3.6North West England

East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8

2.7Yorkshire & Humber

South West England 2.7

East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4

North East England 1.2

Northern Ireland 0.8

1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)

Total IT & T workforce (C+D+E) 44,100

Total IT & T professionals (C+E) 36,400

0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+

Workplaces Employees

0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%

Agriculture Forestry & Fishing

Energy & Water

Distribution, Hotels & Restaurants

Other services

Construction

Manufacturing

Public Administration, Education & Health

Banking & Finance

Transport & Communication

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000

Skill changes New skills

2005 2007 2010 2015 2020

Industrialisation of technology

Security and Data Protection

Communications convergence and integration

Innovation

Transformation through IT

The pool of talent and gender balance

Information and analytics

Consumerisation and convergence of IT

Green IT: environmental computing

Social Computing and Web 2.0

Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160

Non IT&T Job Switcher

1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300

Job switcher fromIT & Telecomsoccupations

610

Entrants to IT & Telecoms occupations

3,520

Job switchers fromNon IT & Telecoms

occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440

NET change inemploymentOccupation

320

Gross JobOpportunities

4,130

ReplacementJobs3,810

Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%

Technical/PC support

22%

Systems design/development

55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%

Client/customer interaction skills

Other interpersonal skills

Business skills

Skills in general

Sector knowledge/experience

Other non-technical skills

Higher level technical IT skills

Below the level required Equal to the level required Above the level required

56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%

General software skills/knowledge

Email/Internet skills

Database skills

Overall IT user skills

General hardware skills/knowledge

Word-processing skills

Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09

All ICT staff All workers

29%Staff are new to the job/company

5%Staff cannot reach required skill levels even with training

77%Staff unable to train due to work commitments

41%New projects/products/ services being launched

5%Budgets/ lack of funds

60%Company doesn’t train/train enough

8%Other

69%New systems/processes/equipment introduced

48%Technical IT/Telecoms (professional level)

23%Management (other)

21%Management (IT/Telecoms related)

21%Other (IT/Telecoms related)

17%Personal development training

16%General company

15%IT User skills

15%Generic employment training

11%Function specific training

6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

G Group Accepts: Mathematical & Computing Science Computing Accepts

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales

Agriculture forestry and fishing Distribution Hotels & Restaurants Other services

Energy & Water Transport & Communication NA / DNA

Manufacturing Banking & Finance

Construction Public administration, Education & Health

ICT Managers/IT Strategy & Planning Professionals

Software Professionals

201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800

IT Operations Technicians/IT User Support Technicians/Database Assistants & Clerks/Telecoms Engineers/Line Repairers & Cable Jointers/Computer Engineers

Computing & Telecoms Graduatesin employment (490)

IT & Telecoms industry: new graduate recruits (300)

IT & Telecoms professionals: new graduate recruits (445)

Graduates of subjects other than Computing & Telecoms (300) are shown in RedEntrants to the IT & Telecoms Workforce (560) are shown in italics

230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%

All IT & Telecoms Professionals

£500

£410

Average across Wales

£450

Average across the UK

1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09

Number of applicants to G Mathematical & Comp Sci (Group) in Wales

0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts

Applicants to Mathematical and Computer Science courses

IT Professional workforce

Some other way 2%

Training course - not organised/paid forby an employer 18%

Self-study using books, CD-ROMs, etc 21%

Training course - organised/paid for byan employer 30%

Formalised educational institution(school/college/university) 34%

Informal assistance from colleagues,relatives, friends etc 54%

Self-study (learning by doing) 59%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

Source: e-skills UK / Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey (ONS LFS) April-June 2009

Figures may not sum due to rounding

The IT & Telecoms sector consists of:

• Business services such as consulting, business process re-engineering and change management.

• IT services including solution design, systems integration, internet and web.

• Software development including applications and games.

• IT operations including information management, security, service delivery and systems maintenance.

• Networking and communications, including mobile and fixed line telecommunications.

• IT project and supplier management.

A full list of IT % Telecoms related Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) can be found in Annex B.

e-skills UK has the responsibility for the IT-related skills needs of business leaders and managers, who need to exploit the potential of IT for their businesses, and the IT-related skills needs of IT users who make use of IT as a tool to support their everyday life and work.

2.1.1 Productivity and competitiveness of IT & Telecoms

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has a key role to play in the Welsh economy and will continue to drive global competitiveness and productivity amongst all sectors.


3 ‘Raising UK Productivity: Unlocking the Potential of ICT’, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform June 2007

4 ‘It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do I.T. Testing explanations of productivity growth using US affiliates.’ Nick Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen, Centre for Economic Performance LSE July 2005

5 ‘IT investment, ICT Use and UK Firm Productivity’ Rafaella Sadun, Shikeb Farooki, Giles Gale, Mark Lever, Office for National Statistics August 2005

6 ‘The 2008 Productivity and Competitiveness Indicators: ICT and Productivity’, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

7 ‘The Communications Market 2009: Key Market Trends’, Ofcom8 GVA measures the contribution to the economy of each individual producer, industry or sector in the UK. It is

the difference between the value of goods and services produced and the cost of the raw materials and other inputs which are used up in production, in any given sector or industry. GVA + taxes on products - subsidies on products = Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is a key indicator of the state of the whole economy

9 Office for National Statistics (ONS) ABI GVA 2007 data, for IT & Telecoms SIC 22.33, 30.02, 32.2, 64.2 & 72 10 Output consists of those goods or services that are produced within an establishment that become available

for use outside that establishment, plus any goods and services produced for own final use11 Office for National Statistics (ONS) Supply and Use Tables July 2009. 2004-2007 data for IT & Telecoms SIC

64.2 and 7212 The total regional estimate for a variable summed across all regions within any industry will not necessarily

equal the UK industry estimate of the variable. This is due to the method of calculating estimated regional data. The regional estimates are constrained to the UK data at the all-industry level. Source http://www.statistics.gov.uk/abi/regional_data.asp

13 SIC 64 includes Telecommunications and Post (At UK level Telecommunications makes up 80% of total GVA for Post and Telecommunications)

Since 1998 Wales’s IT & Telecoms industry GVA contribution has grown by 84%

12

Research shows that a strong IT & Telecoms sector underpins the UK economy3 with ICT contributing to productivity growth by raising the level of capital and technology available to workforces and enabling the development of more profitable business models.

Directly linked to this, there is growing evidence that effective application of IT by companies delivers identifiable productivity improvements. A recent paper from the London School of Economics (LSE) concludes that half of Europe’s productivity gains in recent years can be attributed to IT investments4. This impact has, however, emerged unevenly across firms, sectors and countries.

Studies have investigated the causes of these differences, in particular to understand the better productivity gains in the United States (US) compared to the UK and the comparative differences across Europe. One such study undertaken by the LSE found that US multinational firms are on average 8.5% more productive than UK domestic owned firms, and that almost all of this difference is due to the higher productivity impact of their use of ICT. Further research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also concluded that over 80% of this productivity advantage is explained by better use of IT5.

The investment into digital technology, particularly broadband networks also promotes productivity and encourages competition as it reduces costs to consumers6. As a result, the availability of high speed broadband has risen on a global scale and the Government’s ‘Digital Britain’ report sets out the goal of delivering high broadband speeds as a minimum by 20127.

The UK’s IT & Telecoms industry produces an annual Gross Value Added (GVA)8 of£71 billion, 8.4% of the total UK economy9. GVA at current basic prices for the industry grew by 114% between 1997 and 2007 compared to a growth of 63% for the whole economy. IT & Telecoms industry output10 in 2007 was 4% of the total UK economy having grown by 13% between 2004 and 200711.

Between 1998 and 2007 GVA for the IT & Telecoms industry in Wales grew by 84%, totalling £1.2 billion12 in 2007. This makes up 5%13 of Wales’s and 0.2% of the UK’s total economy.

Technology related skills are of critical importance to the future economic and social success of Wales

Continued adoption and exploitation of ICT could generate an additional £1.4 billion of GVA across the Welsh economy


Not withstanding the direct contribution of the sector IT & Telecoms is also recognised as being at the centre of the Welsh social agenda and the importance of ICT skills to the economy and in employment is well known14. It is widely recognised by citizens, commerce and the Government that the benefits of digital technology can be powerful both socially and economically15.

It is therefore clear that technology related skills are a major factor in economic and social success. This affects not only the 44,000 people in the IT & Telecoms workforce in Wales, but also the 162,000 business managers and 911,000 employees who use IT in their daily work.

2.1.2 ICT adoption, contribution and exploitation

Work has been undertaken to assess the extent to which the adoption and exploitation of ICT could contribute to the economies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the future. Based on historical evidence, it has been possible to assess the future productivity gains that could be accrued by businesses in different industry sectors. The volume and mix of businesses within a particular geography (i.e. its current starting point) will give rise to different levels of available productivity gain at the regional and national levels.

This modelling work suggests that continued adoption and exploitation of ICT could generate an additional £1.4billion GVA in the Welsh economy over the coming 5 to 7 years.

Figure 2: Potential productivity uplift from ICT over the next 5 to 7 years

Source: ‘IT & Telecoms Insights 2008: The impact of ICT on UK Productivity’, e-skills UK / Adroit Economics and

Regeneris Consulting 2008

These benefits assume the rate of investment in ICT is maintained at current rates. The research concludes that, if more were invested, in more advanced ICT, especially by small firms (because of their relatively poor level of adoption of technology), then there are even greater opportunities for productivity improvement16.

14 ‘Independent Review of ICT User Skills’ Baroness Estelle Morris, June 200915 ‘Delivering Digital Inclusion: An Action Plan for Consultation’ Alliance for Digital Inclusion, 200816 ‘IT & Telecoms Insights 2008: The Impact of ICT on UK Productivity’, e-skills UK / Adroit Economics and

Regeneris Consulting, 2008




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


17 'Technology adoption fuels recovery tipping point for UK SMEs: Innovation and optimism at the launch of Small Business Week.' Vanson Bourne and BT Business, 2009

Globalisation will continue to facilitate growth, as more technology-enabled projects become possible

Technologists need to be increasingly more business focused whilst business leaders need to be more technology savvy

The IT professional workforce will be central to Wales's recovery from the recession

14

2.2 Globalisation and economic developments

Globalisation has changed the Welsh economy, competitiveness and productivity. The IT & Telecoms sector has experienced the effects of globalisation for some years with the sourcing of certain IT activities from well skilled, lower cost countries (geosourcing) now well established. This gives rise to challenges in the development pathways for new IT & Telecoms professionals, as many of the traditional entry level roles are less prevalent in Wales. However, globalisation will continue to facilitate growth, as more technology enabled projects become possible lower development and delivery costs make more business cases for such projects viable.

Recent developments have seen an economic downturn that has affected the global economies impacting on business start ups and failures, recruitment and employment levels and industry turnover. The IT & Telecoms sector is far from immune from the recession but has various strengths. These include the lessons of the dotcom bubble expansion of 2001 encouraging technology companies to adopt increasingly flexible business models, which allow for a swift response to changing global markets.

Small businesses bringing in new technology have been found to have been least affected by the recession. Companies with a positive attitude to technology adoption had a 69% better than average experience of the recession, whereas technology laggards suffered a 34% worse recession experience than average17.

A significant part of an organisation’s IT budget is spent on the ongoing management and maintenance of technology systems. These systems are now the backbone of most companies, critical for everything from service delivery to financial management.

There is a growing appreciation that IT can help companies weather the downturn. Making the most of technology will help organisations to achieve their business objectives, whether these are to better manage costs, reach new markets, or boost productivity.

As a result of the strength of the IT & Telecoms sector, the IT professional workforce will be central to Wales’s recovery from recession.

All industries need, and will continue to require, highly skilled technical professionals. There is an arguably even greater need for business-focused technologists who can understand business needs, know how to apply IT to solve business problems, and can manage technology projects to deliver direct business value.

The pace of technological change continues to accelerate. To make the most of this - not just now, but to aid recovery, and long after the recession is over - Wales must continue to invest in the technology skills pool from the IT professionals who create the systems, to the business managers who need to be able to exploit them for business benefit, to the individuals who need to be able to use them in their day to day jobs.


2.2.1 Convergence

The IT & Telecoms sector is at an advantage as companies are no longer confined to their own markets and convergence is prominent across all the research. Telecoms convergence expands across multiple industries with fixed, mobile and IP service providers offering services to the end user. This convergence is a combination of these services operating on one platform and moving from hardware intensive to software intensive platforms. Subsequently, the management of voice, data and images will converge in information based services.

Software is at the heart of this converged world and it is central to the internet, to phones, mobile devices and the media experience as new generations of internet services are emerging. Consumers are increasingly looking for high speed access to any content or application using any device.

For the Telecoms industry, this means that simple connectivity is increasingly commoditised, and value is created by providing sophisticated services and solutions. Of particularly highimpactare:voice,dataandimageconvergence;fixed/wireless/mobileconvergence;telecom/media/contentservicesconvergence;InternetProtocol/ITnetworkarchitectureconvergence and device convergence (consumer electronics/telecoms).

Both IT & Telecoms companies are changing their offerings and partnerships to take advantage of global opportunities in mobile communications, business consulting, networked information services and entertainment.


18‘DigitalBritain;FinalReport’DepartmentforCulture,MediaandSportandDepartmentforBusinessInnovation and Skills, June 2009

19 ‘It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do I.T. Testing explanations of productivity growth using US affiliates.’ Nick Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics

20‘DigitalBritain;FinalReport’DepartmentforCulture,MediaandSportandDepartmentforBusinessInnovation and Skills, June 2009

21 Welsh Assembly Government’s response to the Digital Britain Interim Report, March 2009

“...we welcome plans to develop a realistic and deliverable universal service model as part of Digital Britain...”

Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister

16

2.3 Creating ‘Digital Britain’

The Government published the Digital Britain Report in June 2009, its strategic vision for ensuring that the UK is at the leading edge of the global digital economy and positioning the UK as a ‘long-term leader in communications’18.

The report introduces policies to maximise the social and economic benefits from digital technologies and provides actions for recommendations to promote and protect talent and innovation in our creative industries. It also distinguishes the importance of digital technologies to the UK’s long term future and acknowledges the need to take action on skills if we are to make the most of them.

Half of Europe’s productivity gains can be attributed to IT investments19. As such, it is evident that the Government views IT & Telecoms as a crucial sector in achieving the vision set out in ‘Digital Britain’ and recognises the need for capitalising on the benefits of the digital revolution.20

It is clear, therefore that digital economy and digital work skills are needed within the IT & Telecoms sector if the UK’s economy is to become part of the government’s social and digital incentive and achieve its vision of a ‘Digital Britain’.

The Welsh Assembly Government welcomes the publication of the UK Government's ‘Digital Britain’ Report particularly the introduction of a Universal Service Commitment of at least 2Mbps broadband by 2012 and the stated desire to deliver next generation networks to the majority of the UK population. Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones stated “...we welcome plans to develop a realistic and deliverable universal service model as part of Digital Britain...”.21

Welsh GVA per head is the lowest of all nations/regions within the UK


3.0 The economic and policy environment in Wales

17

This section sets out the economic background for Wales and the IT & Telecoms industry within it. It also gives an overview of the current policy environment with particular reference to skills policy.

3.1 Key economic data

Table 1 presents some key economic statistics for Wales with the UK offered as a comparison.

Table 1: Economic statistics for Wales and the rest of the UK

Region / Nation

Population Workforce GVA per Head (£)

Unemployment rate

Average gross weekly earnings (£)

Wales 2,959,000 1,249,000 15,000 6% 410

Scotland 5,103,000 2,371,000 19,000 6% 430

Northern Ireland

1,759,000 718,000 16,000 5% 390

England 51,144,000 23,161,000 20,000 6% 450

North East 2,553,000 1,070,000 16,000 8% 390

North West 6,853,000 3,013,000 17,000 7% 400

Yorkshire & Humber

5,191,000 2,282,000 17,000 7% 400

East Midlands 4,411,000 2,039,000 18,000 6% 430

West Midlands

5,378,000 2,308,000 17,000 9% 400

East of England

5,676,000 2,651,000 21,000 5% 490

London 7,627,000 3,524,000 30,000 7% 540

South East 8,297,000 3,921,000 23,000 5% 500

South West 5,159,000 2,353,000 18,000 5% 420

United Kingdom

60,966,000 27,498,000 20,000 6% 450

Source: Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey (ONS LFS) April-June 2009 / ABI 2007

6% of the 1.25 million people of working age in Wales are unemployed. Those who are in work receive on average22 £410 per week which is 9% below the UK average.

22 Full time gross weekly earnings


3.2 Industries and employment in Wales

Figure 3: Proportion of the workforce involved in each major industry by nation and region

Source: Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey (ONS LFS) April-June 2009

Figure 3 identifies that more than half (51%) of those working in Wales are employed in either Public administration, Education and Health or Distribution, Hotels and Restaurants. Financial (12%) and Manufacturing (11%) sectors are also notable employers in Wales.




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

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100%

75%

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55%

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43%

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13%

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Male Female

0

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1,200

1,400

1,600

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ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


3.3 Skills and employment policy context

This summary provides an overview of the skills and employment related policy environment in Wales.

This includes, in particular:

• The ‘OneWales’agenda tocreateacompetitiveandsustainableeconomyand theobjectives and outcomes in The Learning Country: Vision into Action, promoting a culture of lifelong learning.

• Supportingbusinessandindividualsduringtheeconomicdownturnthroughupskillingemployees and funding towards training for those who have been made or threatened with redundancy.

• ‘Leading Wales out of Recession’ by taking steps to ensure that Wales is well positioned to take advantage of the economic upturn, particularly through innovation and green jobs.

• The principles and actions from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Skills andEmployment Strategy Skills that work for Wales, in particular harnessing IT to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills they need, to provide businesses with a skilled workforce, and to drive economic and social development.

• WorkingwiththeWalesEmploymentandSkillsBoardtodriveforwardtheimplementationof Skills That Work for Wales.

• Laith pawb, the Welsh language policy (currently under review) and the Welsh-medium Education Strategy which aims to develop effective provision across the education spectrum.

• The introduction of Principal learning in Information Technology to the WelshBaccalaureate from 2009 as a subject-specific option to complement the core learning.

• ThepoorperformanceofWalesinGDPgrowthrelativetotheUKandothersmallEuropean countries.


e-skills UK is dedicated to working in partnership with Welsh employers and key stakeholders to address the IT & Telecoms issues that will have the most significant impact on the success of the Welsh economy. Our action in Wales is guided by our strategic plan - 'Creating The IT Nation: Strategic Plan for Wales 2009-2014'. The plan is based on the findings of our major research report carried out in 2008 - 'Technology Counts Wales' and will be further informed by this latest Sector Skills Assessment.

e-skills UK have a Welsh Language Scheme and are working to support the Welsh Language in Wales, within our means and remit.


4.0 IT & Telecoms in Wales: the current position

21

This section sets out key statistics regarding IT & Telecoms workplaces and the current IT & Telecoms workforce.

4.1 The IT & Telecoms industry

4.1.1 Number of workplaces

There are nearly 4,000 workplaces in the IT & Telecoms industry in Wales, representing 3% of the total across all industries in Wales. Of these, 80% are IT and 20% are Telecoms. 84% of IT & Telecoms workplaces are Services workplaces, 12% Wholesale and Retail and 4% Manufacturing.

Table 2: Number of workplaces in the IT & Telecoms industry

Classification / SIC Wales UK

IT Services 2,710 120,965

IT Manufacturing 75 2,670

IT Wholesale / Retail 165 6,035

Total IT 2,950 129,670

Telecoms Services 360 9,795

Telecoms Manufacturing 80 1,985

Telecoms Wholesale / Retail 275 7,710

Telecoms Total 715 19,490

Total IT & Telecoms industry 3,665 149,160

All industries 115,520 2,634,790

Source: Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) 2009 Analysis of Local Units in VAT based Enterprises


2% of the UK’s IT & Telecoms workplaces are located in Wales

22

Geographic distribution of workplaces

There is substantial geographic variation in the distribution of the UK’s IT & Telecoms workplaces. 44% are in London and the South East of England (compared to 30% of all workplaces), whilst only 8% are in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined (compared to 14% of all workplaces). Table 3 shows the geographic distribution of the IT & Telecoms industry compared to the distribution of workplaces in all sectors.

Table 3: Distribution of IT & Telecoms workplaces by geography

Geography % of UK total Delta

IT & Telecoms industry

All industries

Wales 2% 4% -2%

Scotland 5% 7% -2%

Northern Ireland 1% 3% -2%

England (Total) 92% 85% 7%

North East 2% 3% -1%

North West 8% 10% -2%

Yorkshire & Humber 5% 7% -2%

East Midlands 5% 7% -2%

West Midlands 7% 8% -1%

East of England 12% 10% 2%

London 22% 15% 7%

South East 22% 15% 7%

South West 8% 9% -1%

Source: Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR) 2009 Analysis of Local Units in VAT based Enterprises

Large firms make up just 1% of the number of IT & Telecoms workplaces, but account for the largest proportion of the industry workers


4.1.2 Size of workplace

The IT & Telecoms industry in Wales is made up from a large proportion (95%) of micro firms23 when compared to the average across all industries (83%).

Although micro firms comprise the large majority of IT & Telecoms workplaces in Wales, large firms, those with 200 or more employees, still account for the largest proportion of the IT & Telecoms industry workers. Micro firms make up 95% of the number of IT & Telecoms businesses in Wales but employ just 29% of the actual workforce. By contrast, those with 200 or more employees make up just 1% of the number of workplaces but employ 36% of the workforce.

Figure 4: Distribution of IT & Telecoms workplaces compared to the proportion of the workforce they employ

Source: ABI Workplace Analysis 2007

23 Workplaces with 1-10 employees




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

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Wales 1.4



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GVA (£bn)



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FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

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1,930

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620

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90

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220

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300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

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7%


22%


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Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

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London

East of England

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East Midlands

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Scotland

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201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






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Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


The IT & Telecoms workforce has grown to over 44,000 people in Wales

24

4.2 The IT & Telecoms workforce

4.2.1 Size of workforce

The IT & Telecoms workforce comprises:

• Employees in the IT&Telecoms industry (thoseemployed inany role incompanieswhose primary activity is IT or Telecoms as defined by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes).

• IT&Telecomsprofessionals inother industries (thosewhoseprimaryactivity is ITorTelecoms as defined by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, working in companies in any industry).

The total IT & Telecoms workforce in Wales comprises over 44,000 individuals - 4% of Wales’s current workforce. This is made up of 19,000 people in the IT & Telecoms industry and a further 26,000 working as IT or Telecoms professionals in other industries. The detailed breakdown within these numbers is shown below. It can be seen that, within the IT & Telecoms workforce:

• Thereare36,000IT&Telecomsprofessionals,ofwhich30%areintheIT&Telecomsindustry and 70% are in other industries.

• 19,000peopleworkintheIT&TelecomsindustryinWales.59%oftheseareinIT&Telecoms professional roles.

Table 4: The IT & Telecoms workforce - split by industry and occupation24

Occupational Group

Wales

IT & Telecoms Industry

% Other Industries Total

IT & Telecoms professionals

10,900 59% 25,500 36,400

All Other Occupations

7,700 41%

All Occupations 18,600 100%


Note: Figures may not add up due to rounding

24 Before 2005, quarterly LFS estimates under 10,000 were not published as they are likely to be unreliable. Although this publication policy changed in 2005 (as a result of the Freedom of Information Act), the unreliability of these LFS estimates did not. It is suggested that the 10,000 threshold is used as a guide to identify which cells will be subject to high sampling variability. Users are advised that estimates below 10,000 are subject to a high degree of sampling variability and should therefore be treated with caution. The 10,000 threshold equates to a sample size of about 25 and a relative standard error of about 20%


4.2.2 IT & Telecoms workforce - distribution by geography

Geographic variation exists in the distribution of Wales’s and the rest of the UK’s IT & Telecoms businesses when compared to businesses in all sectors. Data for the workforce in the IT & Telecoms industry shows a similar variation, as shown in the table below.

Table 5: The IT & Telecoms workforce - distribution by geography

Geography % of UK total Delta


All Other Industries

Wales 2% 5% -3%

Scotland 6% 9% -3%

Northern Ireland 2% 3% -1%

England (total) 90% 84% 6%

North East 4% 4% 0%

North West 9% 11% -2%

Yorkshire & Humber 6% 8% -3%

East Midlands 5% 7% -2%

West Midlands 8% 8% 0%

East of England 9% 10% -1%

London 17% 13% 4%

South East 24% 14% 10%

South West 8% 9% -1%



66% of IT & Telecoms professionals are now employed as ICT Managers, IT Strategy & Planning Professionals or Software Professionals

26

4.2.3 IT & Telecoms occupations - distribution by industry25

The largest proportion of IT & Telecoms professionals are employed in the Transport and Communication industry. This sector, combined Public Administration, Education and Health accounts for 58% of all IT & Telecoms professionals employed in the Wales.

Figure 5: Percentage of IT & Telecoms professionals employed by broad industrial group


4.2.4 IT & Telecoms occupations - segmentation

An in-depth analysis of the IT & Telecoms professional workforce (those within the relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) shows that 34% are employed as ICT Managers or IT Strategy & Planning Professionals, and a further 32% are employed as Software Professionals. 12% are IT Operations Technicians, while the remaining 23% are split between IT User Support Staff, Database Assistants, Computer Engineers, Telecoms Engineers and Telecoms Line Repairers, as shown below.

Table 6: IT & Telecoms professionals by proportion

SOC Code Description %

1136 ICT Managers 22%

2131 IT Strategy & Planning Professionals 12%

2132 Software Professionals 32%

3131 IT Operations Technicians 12%

3132 IT User Support Technicians 5%

4136 Database Assistants & Clerks 7%

5242 Telecoms Engineers 8%

5243 Line Repairers & Cable Jointers 1%

5245 Computer Engineers 2%

Total 100%





(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



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FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

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Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








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Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

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Scotland

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45,000

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0

600

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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

25 Based on SIC 2007. Technology Counts: IT & Telecoms Insights 2008 was based on SIC 2003

Employment in IT occupations has more than doubled since the early 1990’s


4.2.5 IT & Telecoms occupations - growth dynamics

Employment in IT occupations in Wales has more than doubled since the early 1990’s, reaching a total of 33,000 as of 2009 - notably a 24% increase in numbers from 2008 to 2009.

Figure 6: Employment in IT professional roles, 1992-2009

Source: Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey (ONS LFS) April-June 1992-2009

Note: change from SOC 1990 to SOC 2000

In addition to this continued growth, detailed analysis of changes across IT & Telecoms professional occupations in the UK over the last eight years shows that there has been a significant shift into higher level roles. Technological change and globalisation are both contributing to these dynamics, with large volumes of traditional entry level work now being sourced from other countries.




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

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36%29%

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FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

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56%

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0

30%

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50%

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Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

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East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

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Ger

man

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Den

mar

k

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Sw

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18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

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Rom

ania

23%

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garia

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es

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£500

£410


£450


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Q3.08

990

Q4.08

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Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

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20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

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50%

25%

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55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

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44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


26 Qualification equivalence of levels: 5 = postgraduate, 4 = graduate (first degree), 3 = GCE A-Level / Scottish Higher, 3 = GCSE / Scottish Standard Grade

The IT & Telecoms professional workforce hold particularly high levels of qualifications

28

4.2.6 IT & Telecoms - qualification levels

Wales’s IT & Telecoms workforce is highly qualified compared to its population overall. The table below shows the level of formal qualifications achieved by employees in the IT & Telecoms industry, and by IT & Telecoms professionals in all sectors.

Table 7: IT & Telecoms - level of formal qualifications achieved

Level26 Wales


All Other Industries

IT & Telecoms

Professionals

All Other Occupations

Wales's Employed Workforce

5 22% 8% 18% 8% 9%

4 44% 26% 40% 25% 26%

3 16% 23% 17% 23% 23%

2 14% 23% 21% 23% 23%

1 0% 4% 0% 4% 4%

None 0% 9% 1% 9% 9%

Other 4% 5% 3% 6% 5%

Unknown 0% 1% 0% 1% 1%

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%


As can be seen from this, 58% of Wales’s IT & Telecoms professionals hold a qualification at undergraduate level (Level 4) or higher, compared to 35% for its working population. At the other end of the scale, only 1% of IT & Telecoms professionals are not qualified to Level 2, compared to 14% of its workforce overall.


4.2.7 IT & Telecoms occupations - earnings

Gross weekly earnings for IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales are, on average, £500 per week, which is 18% more than the average of £410 for all occupations in all sectors across Wales.

Figure 7: Average weekly earnings in IT & Telecoms professional occupations





(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

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75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

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29%34% 34%

31%

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12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

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Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

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71%

15%

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21%

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17%

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9%

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0

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Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



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0

4,000

6,000

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3,000

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

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10,000

15,000

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30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

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1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

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%

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2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

IT & Telecoms professionals earn 18% more than the average across Wales


Females account for just 17% of the IT & Telecoms professional workforce

30

4.2.8 IT & Telecoms occupations - demographics

Gender

Gender imbalance remains a significant issue for the IT & Telecoms sector in Wales. Considering IT & Telecoms professional job roles across all sectors, females made up just 17% in 2009. This compares to the overall workforce being 46% female.

There is a similar imbalance when considering the make up of the IT & Telecoms industry in Wales. Female representation levels have more than halved from 42% in 2001 to just 17% in 2009.

This imbalance within the sector is common across the globe. International comparisons of female labour market representation in IT professions are shown in the figure below. The countries with the highest proportions of females are Romania (23%) and Bulgaria (23%).

Figure 8: Female labour market representation in IT professions within selected countries

Source: Eurostat Q1.09 data




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



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GVA (£bn)



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0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


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Other services

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Manufacturing


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0

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10,000

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1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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£200

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36%29%

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FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

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7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

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48%

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71%

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Skills in general





56%

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69%

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0

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Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

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0

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


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200

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

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13,600

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12,800






230

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%

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%

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18%

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and

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ania

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2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

The IT & Telecoms professional workforce in Wales is an ageing population


Age

Analysis of the period 2001-2009 shows a changing trend in the age profile of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales. The chart below demonstrates that the proportion of people aged 16-29 has dropped from 36% in 2001 to 14% in 2009. 45% of IT & Telecoms professionals are now 40+, compared to 29% eight years ago. During this period, the proportions in each age category across Wales’s economy have remained stable.

Figure 9: Age profile of IT & Telecoms professionals 2001-2009

Source: Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey (ONS LFS) April-June 2001-2009

Ethnicity and Disability

The ethnic mix of IT & Telecoms professionals in general mirrors that of Wales as a whole with 96% of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales identifying themselves as being ‘White’ compared to 97% for all occupations in all sectors.

14% of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales have some form of work limiting disability. This compares to 13% across all occupations.




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

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1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


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Other services

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Manufacturing


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0

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£400

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39%

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72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




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0

30%

20%

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40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

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20%

25%

30%

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and

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gary

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ania

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garia

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£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

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nal w

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orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

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lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

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0%

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55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

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77%

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39%

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44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends



5.0 The changing environment - horizon scan

33

This section summarises key trends which have implications for the IT & Telecoms sector, and for all businesses and users of technology.

5.1 Emerging trends

5.1.1 Introduction

A key element of the research activity behind this report was a project to understand the changing global environment with regard to IT & Telecoms, and to predict implications over a 10 year horizon. This project was undertaken with Gartner Executive Programs, bringing together the visions of leading global industry analysts and influential business leaders.

A number of key forces for change were identified which, together, are shaping the development of technology, the nature of business, the wider economy and the way in which society interacts. This includes:

• Businessandeconomicfactorssuchastheimpactofglobalisation;theimportanceoftechnology-enabledbusinesstransformation;andthepressureforconstantinnovationin technology-intensive products and services.

• Technologydriven factors suchas increasedstandardisationand industrialisationofIT; convergenceofplatforms,devicesandservices; and theconsequent impactonmarkets and business models.

• Socialfactorssuchasenvironmentalconcernsandthedesirefor‘greenIT’;theriseof social computing and increased power to the consumer to determine content and services;andtheimpactofthenewgenerationofdigitalnativesandtheexpectationsthey bring to the workplace and the market.

5.1.2 Trends and forces for change

The following diagram and text set out eleven specific trends or forces for change expected to have significant impacts across the sector and beyond. The first six, labelled ‘foundational trends’, represent key areas with implications for changes in skills. The further five, labelled ‘emerging trends’, represent fast moving areas that are creating new opportunities and demanding new skills.


Figure 10: The trends shaping IT & Telecoms skills changes

Source: Gartner Executive Programs

Industrialisation of technology delivery

Increasingly standardised technology delivery processes are fundamentally changing the nature of the IT & Telecoms sector globally. Standardisation of IT practices is enabling the outsourcing and off shoring of many IT and business process activities, and is supporting new choices such as ‘software as a service’. Technology professionals in the UK need new business-orientated skills to play a key role in the analysis, design and development phases of technology-enabled projects, as well as the skills to manage increasingly global supplier relationships.

Security and data protection

Increasing use of electronic channels and information-intensive products creates greater convenience and efficiency - but also a new market for illegal activities. Cyber crime has no boundaries and is growing rapidly in sophistication and scale. Consumers, companies and governments need to be able to rely on technology based solutions being secure. This is important for reasons ranging from commercial advantage to brand integrity, from personal identity to national security. Maintaining the security and integrity of information and information systems is increasingly critical and increasingly complex.




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

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13%

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0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


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Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

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25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

To deliver business value requires business people and technologists to work together

IT departments are increasingly focused on business enablement and intelligence



Telecommunications, computing and networking are converging, and moving from hardware intensive to software intensive platforms. Embedded voice communications capability is already part of emerging offerings of the internet. Increasingly, the management of voice, data, video and location information will converge in information-based services.

Enabling technologies such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), wide area wireless networks (WiMAX), and third generation mobile networks (3G) enable a range of new applications and demand new skills of the IT & Telecoms workforce.

Business transformation through IT

IT & Telecoms has moved from a back office function into a major source of competitive advantage for businesses. The transformational power of IT arises from its ability to improve performance across all business processes. But to deliver business value from technology requires business people and technologists to work together, focused on business issues. There is an increasing need for more IT professionals with broader and deeper business skills, and for more business leaders with an effective understanding of the power of technology.

Innovation

Successful innovation requires the skills to leverage technological innovation into business innovation. Enterprises will need new design skills that blend information, technology and innovation to create new sources of value - particularly in the area of user interface design and presentation. Executives see themselves as having an active role in fostering innovation, and the vast majority view IT as central to successful innovation.

The pool of talent and the gender balance

The IT & Telecoms sector has increasing demands in terms of both the number of people and their skills levels - in particular the blend of business, marketing, design and technical skills required to deliver technology-intensive solutions. Yet participation in IT-related education is declining rapidly, and the gender balance in IT & Telecoms is worsening. Different approaches to attracting people into IT & Telecoms are needed in order to sustain and grow the UK’s talent pool.


The relative value of IT is shifting from the technology based processing of information to the exploitation of technology to increase business competitiveness. With outsourcing, geo-sourcing, automation and commoditisation being well established trends, IT functions are increasingly focused on business enablement and intelligence. Analytics involves applying intelligence to information to gain new insights, and to enable companies to realise competitive advantage.


Green IT

Environmental considerations are now at the core of many customer, brand and operations decisions. IT & Telecoms is both part of an environmental problem and central to environmental solutions. Addressing environmental concerns in a commercially sustainable way is demanding new skills, from technical design of power management through to the development of new services to assess environmental metrics.


The convergence of communications, computing and content platforms have blurred the lines between technology for business and technology for the home. Consumers require their information, services and products to be available on their platform of choice - from PCs to mobile devices to games consoles. This places increased demands on information and network architectures, and innovation in areas such as information display, transaction processing and service assurance. Further, consumerisation is creating a new IT market, as more than 21 million homes in the UK increasingly require access to IT skills to integrate and operate information-intensive technologies.

The rise of social computing

Social computing is powered by a set of internet based technologies initially referred to as Web 2.0, which shift customer-company relationships on the web to peer-to-peer socialnetworks.Unlikeweb-storefronts,thesechannelsarenotcontrolledbycompanies;instead communities of interest form opinions and value products, services and brands. Understanding and harnessing the power of collaborative computing will be increasingly essential for all businesses.

Digital natives

Digital natives - those born after 1985 who have grown up in an IT-intensive environment - are not only the customers of IT & Telecoms, but also the source of the next generation IT & Telecoms workforce. Their expectations - from products and services to working style and speed of change - are very different from past generations, and companies will need to work out how to adapt to best meet their needs and utilise their talents.


5.1.3 Focus on Telecoms

As indicated earlier in this report, the Telecoms industry is undergoing substantial change. In addition to the trends set out in section 5.1.2, a number of specific changes are expected to have an increasing impact on the Telecoms workforce and its skills needs:

• Theestablishmentofapacket-basedInternetProtocolnetworkintheUK(BT’s21stCentury Network 21CN).

• Telecoms providers offering IT services and IT providers offering telecoms servicesusing the IP network.

• The potential for new technologies such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access) to offer new means of delivery of voice / data services.

• The effect of convergence in termsof commoncontent onmultiple devices and interms of multiple media on individual devices - which has implications for product configuration management, maintenance and billing systems.

• The potential of wide scale introduction of Radio Frequency Identification Devices(RFID), with a consequent increased focus on information management processes.

5.2 Implications of emerging trends

Understanding the effects of these trends or forces for change is key to anticipating the technology-related skills needed for competitiveness. They impact on all of the e-skills UK communities: the IT & Telecoms workforce, business leaders and managers, and IT users, all of whom will require increasingly complex skills at ever higher levels:

The IT & Telecoms industry

Companies will have to continue to expand their capabilities and the breadth of their service offering as the traditional model of IT & Telecoms software sales, service and support give way to new business models and markets, driven by consumerisation and convergence.

The industry needs to develop more of the higher value skills of leadership and relationship management, business process analysis and design, project and programme management skills, business intelligence, information analytics and architecture skills to handle increasingly complex technology systems. Basic technology skills and jobs are increasingly located off shore.

IT & Telecoms professionals

IT & Telecoms professionals will require greater skills in the application of technology to improve business performance, and in conceptualising and implementing technology-enabled business change programmes. As well as continuing to have very strong technical skills in areas such as systems architecture and security, they will also need to develop greater expertise in networking and some will need skills in areas such as multi device management and design to take advantage of converged technologies.


IT users will need increasingly higher skills levels for the future

38

As IT moves deeper into the board room, IT professionals will need more skills in business processes, enterprise change and management at the portfolio, programme and project levels, and also business architecture skills, risk management and security skills. Web and internet specialist skills will be increasingly in demand, as will the project management and supplier management skills to manage outsourced work.

For Telecoms professionals specifically, there is likely to be a reduction in the staffing needed to maintain the existing core networks, as they become more robust and basic maintenance activities are performed intelligently by the network itself. There will, in contrast, be an increase in higher level network design and development skills for the new 21st Century Network, along with increased demand for software skills in general and in the following in particular: distributed and internet applications, network management and security, and information management. In addition to the increase in skills associated with the changes in the core network, there will also be a requirement for staff to create the new services facilitated by the move to a common IP environment, and new skills requirements due to WiMAX expansion.

More detail on changing skills requirements for IT & Telecoms is provided in section 7 ‘The skills of the workforce’.

Business leaders and managers

Business leaders and managers will need to be able to release the transformational power of IT through a co-ordinated and integrated business and IT strategy. They will increasingly need the skills to integrate IT across all business processes and organisational structures. They will also require the skills to innovate through technology and to develop technology intensive products and services.

IT users

Key knowledge workers will need increasingly high level skills in information and analytics and business analysis, collaborating with IT professionals to design and implement new solutions and business processes. IT users more generally will need not only increased levels of skills in basic desk top technology, they will also need to be skilled in security management and IT support processes and tools. They will increasingly use IT in decision making, and in some cases to create new sources of customer value.

More detail on changing skills requirements for IT users is provided in section 9 ‘The wider population and the use of IT’.

Employment in IT & Telecoms professional occupations in Wales will grow at 1 % per annum - ten times faster than the average across the economy of Wales


6.0 Recruitment into IT & Telecoms

39

This section sets out IT & Telecoms workforce growth dynamics, recruitment needs by occupation, provides information about recruitment sources and highlights implications in terms of priorities for action.

6.1 IT & Telecoms workforce growth dynamics 2009-2018

A substantive work effort has been undertaken with Experian to provide employment forecasts for the IT & Telecoms workforce. This is particularly critical intelligence for a workforce which requires the type of high skills levels that may require several years of development.

Predicted growth rates forecast for IT & Telecoms over the period 2009-2018 have been assessed in line with Experian’s overall forecasting methodology. This involves a top-down approach beginning with the UK economy as a whole, and with key macroeconomic variables. Estimates of national and regional employment by industry are determined, and these then inform the forecasts for IT & Telecoms activity.

Table 8: Employment growth rates in Wales 2009-2018

Employment growth rates - average per annum, 2009-2018

IT industry 0.6%

Telecoms industry -0.1%

Total IT & Telecoms industry combined 0.3%

IT & Telecoms professionals 1.0%

Wales workforce: all sectors 0.1%

Source: ‘IT & Telecoms Insights 2009: Employment Forecasts’, e-skills UK / Experian

Table 8 shows the projection that employment in IT & Telecoms professional occupations will grow at 1% per annum, which is ten times faster than the average employment growth of Wales. In contrast, the Telecoms industry which has grown steadily in Wales since 2001 shows a decline in employment over the ten year period to 2018.

Underneath this overall forecast growth of 1% per annum across the IT & Telecoms professional workforce lies a more complex picture of restructuring and skills shift. As discussed in section 2.2, the movement of certain IT activities to lower cost countries (geosourcing) is creating challenges in terms of career paths and skills development. The impact of these global dynamics plays through into the following forecasts for the various occupational segments within the IT & Telecoms professional workforce.


IT & Telecoms growth in Wales will continue to be primarily in high value roles with an increasing need for customer and business-orientated skills as well as sophisticated technical competencies

40

Table 9: Number of IT & Telecoms professionals by occupation in Wales 2009- 2018

SOC Description 2009 Average growth per

annum

2018 Growth in population 2009-2018

Total % Total %

1136/ 2131


11,700 33% 13,600 34% 1,900

2132 Software Professionals

11,400 32% 2.2% 13,900 34% 2,500

3131/ 3132/ 4136/ 5242/ 5243/ 5245

IT Operations Technicians / IT User Support Technicians / Database Assistants & Clerks / Telecoms Engineers / Line Repairers & Cable Jointers / Computer Engineers

12,900 36% 12,800 32% -100

Total 36,000 100% 1% 40,300 100% 4,300

Source: Growth rates (Experian 2009) applied to data from Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey

(ONS LFS) Jan-Mar/April-June quarterly average 2009

Note: For multiple occupations no growth %’s inserted due to the differing growth rates across the occupations.

The strongest growth is in the high skill areas, particularly Software Professionals along with ICT Managers and Strategy & Planning Professionals. Jobs such as Database Assistants / Clerks, Telecoms Engineers and Computer Engineers will continue to decline.

This output from Experian’s work is consistent with the findings of the e-skills UK/Gartner ‘horizon scanning’ research on the changing nature of jobs across the UK. IT & Telecoms growth in Wales will continue to be primarily in high value roles such as project management, systems architecture, business process, change management, security, risk management and web service development, with an increasing need for customer and business-orientated skills as well as sophisticated technical competencies. Employers report the need for business analysts, project managers, consultants and sales people who have customer facing skills to complement their knowledge of technology.


Figure 11: Number of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales by occupation 2001, 2009 and forecast to 2018

Source: ONS LFS 2001, 2009. 2018 from growth rates (Experian 2009) applied to data from Office for National

Statistics Labour Force Survey (ONS LFS) Jan-Mar/April-June quarterly average 2009

6.2 Recruitment needs by occupation, growth and replacement demand

6.2.1 Background

The employment change estimates and forecasts presented in the previous section are net changes in employment, i.e. the stock of jobs forecast in a particular occupation in 2018 compared with 2009. This can be termed the change due to expansion or contraction. This section looks at the relationship between net and gross employment changes in the demand for labour by occupation, which is particularly useful in terms of projecting job-specific qualifications, skills requirements and potential training issues.

Gross employment changes also take into account job opportunities created by replacement demand. Additional information on replacement rates have been used to adjust the forecasts to take replacement demand into account. A job opportunity is generated whenever a net new job is created (growth) or whenever someone leaves an occupation (replacement) - either for another occupation or to leave employment altogether. These two effects together (i.e. growth + replacement) have been termed ‘gross job opportunities’. Note that gross job opportunities created by replacement tend to be much larger than those created by expansion.




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


3,520 jobs in Wales each year need to be filled by new entrants moving into IT & Telecoms professional roles

42

6.2.2 IT & Telecoms Professionals - Gross job opportunities in Wales per annum to 2013

Figure 12 below shows there are 4,130 gross job opportunities expected each year between 2008 and 2013 across all IT & Telecoms occupations. Replacement accounts for a significant proportion of these opportunities with 3,810 jobs (or 77%), expected to become available due to one of the replacement factors.

Figure 12: Gross job opportunities in Wales per annum - IT & Telecoms professionals

Source: e-skills UK




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

The largest recruitment source (52%) is ‘employed individuals in occupations other than IT or Telecoms’ with new entrants from education contributing 19%


6.2.3 Recruitment needs by occupation

Table 10 shows the breakdown of the total gross job opportunities for IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales by growth and replacement.

Table 10: IT & Telecoms occupations - gross job opportunities in Wales per annum to 2013

Due to growth / expansion

Due to replacement

Gross job opportunities

Jobs filled by:

Movement within IT & Telecoms

professional workforce

New entrants to the IT & Telecoms

professional workforce

320 3,810 4,130 610 3,520


Of the total of 4,130 appointments a year, only 610 will be filled by people who will move from one IT & Telecoms professional occupational segment to another (i.e. ‘churn’ - movement within the IT & Telecoms professional workforce). 3,520 jobs each year need to be filled by people moving into an IT & Telecoms professional job from elsewhere - for example from another profession, from education or from unemployment.

6.2.4 Recruitment sources for IT & Telecoms occupations

As set out in table 10 above, there is a need for 3,520 new entrants a year into IT & Telecoms professional occupations. Based on current data, the make up of this intake is expected to be as follows:

Table 11: IT & Telecoms professionals - recruitment sources for new entrants

Recruitment source Number (average per annum to 2013)

Share

Employed individuals in occupations other than IT or Telecoms

1,840 52%

Individuals joining from education 660 19%

Other sources 1,020 29%

Total 3,520 100%



27 Salary Services Ltd - http://www.salaryservices.co.uk/

44

6.3 Current demand for IT & Telecoms professionals

As with many other sectors, demand for IT & Telecoms professionals has declined significantly over the past year as a result of the economic slowdown, both within the UK as a whole and within Wales more specifically. During the second quarter of 2009, there are estimated to have been approximately 640 positions advertised for IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales - a decline of around 40% compared with the equivalent quarter of 200827.

Figure 13: Change in demand for IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales, 2008-2009

Source: e-skills UK analysis of data provided by Salary Services Ltd




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

The most sought after technical skills include SQL, C#, .NET, SQL, SVR, ASP, Java, Oracle, HTML and C++


Assuming that the distribution of vacancies is broadly similar to that in the UK, the majority of these vacancies for IT & Telecoms professionals are likely to originate from firms that are operating in the IT and Finance sectors and focussed in the areas of Systems Design/Development and Technical/PC support as illustrated below.

Figure 14: Distribution of IT & Telecoms vacancies in the UK, by occupational group, Q2.2009

Source: e-skills UK analysis of data provided by Salary Services Ltd

An analysis of the specific competencies cited within advertisements for IT & Telecoms professionals (UK) highlights the extensive range of skills required of applicants by their prospective employers, with regularly published figures from Salary Services Ltd for example covering around 150 technical skills each quarter. The majority of advertisements for IT & Telecoms positions do however, call for one or more of the ‘core’ or ‘top ten’ technical skills monitored, these being: SQL, C#, .NET, SQL, SVR, ASP, Java, Oracle, HTML and C++.




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

Less than one in twenty Welsh firms recruiting IT & Telecoms staff report difficulty finding candidates with the required skills, qualifications or experience


28 Very low number of interviews - treat with caution

UK recruiters most often report difficulties sourcing good candidates for programming, tech support and IT & Telecoms management posts

46

6.3.1 Skills shortages

Less than one in twenty Welsh firms seeking to recruit IT & Telecoms professionals during the final quarter of 2008 stated that they were experiencing difficulties finding applicants with the rights skills, qualification or experience28 - a much lower proportion than that recorded across the UK as a whole (where around one in ten or 11% stated this to be the case).

Across the UK, the main roles for which applicants tended to be lacking skills/experience /qualifications were: programming, technical support and IT & Telecoms management, whilst recruiters appeared to have general issues with the levels of applicant’s business skills, higher level technical skills, sector knowledge/experience and skills in general.

Figure 15: Employer general views on the skills of applicants for IT & Telecoms positions, UK

Source: e-skills UK 2009 employer survey




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

The incidence of education/ training amongst IT & Telecoms professionals is declining and is now below the average in Wales


7.0 Skills of the workforce

47

This section sets out the key skills challenges facing Wales in terms of the IT & Telecoms workforce.

7.1 IT & Telecoms professionals skills

As highlighted within section 4, IT & Telecoms professionals working in Wales on average, will have attained a higher level of academic achievement than individuals working within other occupational groups. However, it has also been noted that the rapidly changing nature of the IT & Telecoms environment places a heavy requirement on this group of workers to continually update their existing skills and stay abreast of new technological developments.

This section seeks to provide a better understanding of both the scale and nature of current development activity for IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales and then assesses the adequacy of such actions in the light of current/future skills requirements voiced by employers.

7.1.1 Education/training received by IT & Telecoms professionals

As with the UK more generally, the incidence of education/training amongst IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales has historically, tended to be higher than that recorded for other workers within the nation. This trend however, appears to have reversed in recent years and, during the second quarter of 2009 24% of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales were thought to have received some form of job related education/training (development). The comparison figure for the workforce overall was much higher at 30%.

Figure 16: Percentage of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales receiving education/training during the past 13 weeks





(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


29 Four quarter moving average

IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales are more likely to have been offered education / training by their employers than those working elsewhere in the UK

48

The likelihood of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales receiving education/training appears to be slightly higher than for the UK/England (where 23% are thought to receive education/training each quarter) and slightly lower than in Scotland (25%) and Northern Ireland (28%)29.

Further details of education/training activity undertaken by IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales are unavailable though as an indicator for the UK as a whole, education/training activity for IT & Telecoms professionals appears broadly consistent by size of firm though those working in the IT & Telecoms sector are notably less likely to have received education/training than those working in other industries.

Generally by role there was, little difference in the incidence of IT & Telecoms professionals receiving education/training (in the UK) though IT User Support Professionals were notably more likely than others to have received education/training whilst the reverse was found to be the case for those working as Database Assistants.

7.1.2 Education/training offered

As with the UK, whilst the incidence of IT & Telecoms professionals receiving education/training in Wales is below the average for all occupational groups, the percentage that have been offered development opportunities (i.e. irrespective of whether they had been taken up or not) is actually much higher than for Welsh workers as a whole (with comparison figures of 83% and 69% respectively) and also above that for IT & Telecoms staff working anywhere else in the UK.

Table 12: Education/training activity for IT & Telecoms professionals within the UK nations

Education/training received Education/training offered

UK 23% 75%

England 23% 74%

Scotland 25% 77%

Wales 24% 83%

Northern Ireland 28% 72%


Almost one half of Welsh employers had a formal and regular process for identifying and addressing the development needs of their IT & Telecoms professionals


7.1.3 Nature of education/training received

More detailed information regarding the education/training received by IT & Telecoms professionals working in Wales is unavailable. However, some indication of likely characteristics of delivery can again be obtained by examining data available for the UK as a whole i.e.

• Whereeducation/trainingisreceivedbyIT&Telecomsprofessionalsitismorelikelytohave been delivered ‘on the job’, whilst off-the-job education/training is, in any case, most often delivered on the employer’s premises.

• Aside from the workplace, the other most common locations for education/trainingdelivery are educational establishments, home/distance learning and private training centres.

• IT & Telecoms professionals are much more likely to receive education/training intechnical IT as opposed to other disciplines, though management development appears to be another common area for development activity.

Figure 17: Nature of education/training activity undertaken by IT & Telecoms professionals (UK)


7.1.4 Identification of development needs

Compared with employers from other UK nations, those based in Wales generally appear to have a more structured approach to identifying and addressing the (technical and non-technical) training/development needs of IT & Telecoms professionals - whilst, on average less than one third of UK employers stated that they had a formal and regular process for identifying and addressing the development needs of their IT & Telecoms professionals. Around one half of Welsh employers stated this to be the case (i.e. 44% when considering technical skills development and 68% when considering their generic development needs).




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

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30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

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14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

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17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

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25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

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epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

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20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

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orkf

orce

0

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2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

One in ten firms with IT & Telecoms professionals report gaps in the skills of these staff

Skills gaps amongst IT & Telecoms professionals working in the UK are most likely due to an inability to fit training in around other work commitments


30 e-skills UK 2009 employer survey

50

7.1.5 Skills gaps amongst IT & Telecoms professionals30

The incidence of firms reporting skills gaps amongst their IT & Telecoms professionals at the beginning of the year was slightly lower in Wales than it was for other UK nations and amongst those firms contacted during the e-skills UK 2009 employer survey, one in ten of those based in Wales stated that they were experiencing gaps of this nature compared with 11% for the UK overall.

Detailed data for Wales is not available due to the size of the sample however, across the UK skills gaps were more often thought to exist in the areas of business and technical skills, whilst gaps in sector knowledge/experience, client/customer interaction skills or other non-technical/interpersonal skills were also commonly mentioned.

Figure 18: Company views on the reasons for the existence of IT & Telecoms professional skills gaps (UK)




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

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35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

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800

1,000

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


The most common reason for the existence of skills gaps amongst IT & Telecoms professionals cited by UK employers at the start of the year was that staff are unable to train due to work commitments though interestingly, many stated that the company didn’t train or didn’t train enough.

Approximately 286,000 development units need to be delivered if the skills of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales are to match those needed by their employers


7.1.6 The current upskilling requirement for IT & Telecoms professionals

To provide a more detailed understanding of the nature and extent of skills gaps (amongst IT & Telecoms professionals) and to highlight additional areas where upskilling may give additional benefits to the firm, respondents to the e-skills UK 2009 employer survey were asked to rate the level of skills currently held by these staff together with the level thought needed by them to undertake the work that they do (this assessment based around the e-skills procom31 model). The difference in the two ratings was then multiplied by the number of IT & Telecoms professionals employed in Wales to provide an estimate of the overall number of development units32 required to bring the skills of IT & Telecoms professionals in line with that required by their employers.

Table 13: Current upskilling requirements of the IT & Telecoms workforce in Wales, by broad competency level33


Note: For details of e-skills procom see Annex D

As illustrated in the table above, the results of this analysis show an estimated 286,000 units of training would be required to fully upskill the IT & Telecoms professional workforce in Wales bringing the level of skills held into line with that required by employers. For most of the broad competency areas shown, the required ‘upskilling’ activity would be needed at Lead professional/Principal level whilst Leadership skills development in particular would be needed mainly at the higher of these two.

31 See Annex D32 One training development unit equates to a movement of one level in one sub-skills group of the e-skills

procom framework33 Data presented is based on UK findings pro-ratered amongst the four nations according to the respective IT &

Telecoms workforce

Associate Professional Senior Professional

Lead Professional

Principal Total development

units

Architecture, Analysis and Design

1% 1% 43% 48% 6% 22,000

Business Process and Change Management

1% 24% 59% 15% 17,000

Information Management/Security

1% 4% 73% 21% 17,000

Personal 14% 2% 58% 26% 42,000

Business 3% 10% 35% 9% 43% 11,000

Leadership 1% 2% 1% 36% 60% 46,000

Programme, Project and Supplier Management

2% 10% 66% 21% 57,000

Service Management and Delivery

9% 40% 30% 21% 53,000

Solution Development and Implementation

15% 21% 25% 22% 17% 21,000

All competence areas 2% 7% 18% 46% 27% 286,000


34 Data presented is based on UK findings pro-ratered amongst the four nations according to respective IT & Telecoms workforce estimates

A further 388,000 development units are required if the skills of IT & Telecoms professionals in Wales are to remain equal to those needed by their employers over the next 3 years

52

7.1.7 Meeting the future skills needs of employers

Having identified the level of skills held/needed by their IT & Telecoms professionals, employers were then asked to predict the level of skills required by these workers in three years time, again using the e-skills procom role definitions. The findings were then grossed up using estimates of the future IT & Telecoms workforce in Wales (derived by Experian Business Strategies) and the additional upskilling requirement summarised under the same nine broad competency areas set out by the e-skills procom model.

Table 14: Future upskilling requirements of the IT & Telecoms workforce in Wales, by broad competency level34

Associate Professional Senior Professional

Lead Professional

Principal Total development

units

Architecture, Analysis and Design 31% 12% 15% 23% 19% 18,000

Business Process and Change Management

15% 18% 12% 42% 13% 11,000

Information Management/Security 5% 29% 67% 24,000

Personal 1% 43% 0% 2% 53% 49,000

Business 1% 1% 3% 49% 46% 34,000

Leadership 6% 2% 32% 53% 7% 26,000

Programme, Project and Supplier Management

5% 4% 5% 15% 71% 43,000

Service Management and Delivery

18% 18% 19% 36% 10% 156,000

Solution Development and Implementation

22% 32% 7% 16% 23% 28,000

All competence areas 12% 17% 12% 29% 30% 388,000


Note: For details of e-skills procom see Annex D

As illustrated in the table above, after the initial/current upskilling exercise, employers anticipate a significant volume of additional development will be required over the coming three years to maintain the balance between skills held/needed by IT & Telecoms professionals. Again, the focus of development activity is anticipated to be needed primarily at Lead professional/Principal level although there is also a noticeable increase in the requirement for development at Associate and Professional. In volume terms however, the main areas of activity will be: Service Management & Delivery, Personal Skills Development and Programme, Project and Supplier Management.


8.0 Students and education

53

This section considers key challenges in terms of the talent pipeline into IT & Telecoms. It focuses on volumes of students in the education system undertaking technology-related education and the extent to which they are able to develop competencies relevant to future employment in the IT & Telecoms sector in Wales.

8.1 Higher Education

8.1.1 Context

Higher Education statistics used in this document are based on sources including the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). The term ‘Computing degrees’ is used to refer to computing disciplines classified under the codes: G4 (Computing); G5 (Information Systems); G6 (SoftwareEngineering);G7(Artificial Intelligence)and, insomecases,G92(Others inComputingScience). The term ‘Telecoms degrees’ is used to refer to Telecoms disciplines classified under the codes: H640 (Communications Engineering); H641 (TelecommunicationsEngineering) and H643 (Satellite Engineering).

It should also be noted that employers actively encourage graduate intake to the sector from degrees other than Computing or Telecoms, as this is seen to provide a healthy mix in the workforce. Additionally, there is no assumption that all students on Computing orTelecomsdegreeswouldnecessarilywishtoenterthesector;aswithotherdegrees,many students may study these because of their interest in the subject not because they have necessarily decided on IT & Telecoms as a career.

However, IT-related Higher Education is an important source of talent for the sector’s workforce, and the vitality of this community is essential to Wales and the UK as a whole.


35 Data about application and qualification levels uses the Joint Academic Classification System for ‘Computing degrees’asfollows:G4ComputerScience;G5InformationSystems;G6SoftwareEngineering;G7ArtificialIntelligence(fromGroupG)andfor‘Telecomsdegrees’:H640CommunicationsEngineering;H641TelecommunicationsEngineering;H643SatelliteEngineering(fromGroupH6).

54

8.1.2 Applicants35 to Computing degree courses

Figures for applicants to Computing degree courses are not available for universities in Wales so Group G, Mathematical and Computer Sciences courses (Computing degrees sit within this group) has been analysed. The following chart details the profile of applicants in Wales to Mathematical and Computer Sciences courses (2002-2008) contrasted with the growth in IT professional workforce in Wales (2002-2009).

Figure 19: The IT professional workforce in Wales / applicants to Mathematical and Computer Sciences courses




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

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0%

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13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

Source: e-skills UK analysis UCAS data.

Although the number of applicants to Mathematical and Computer Sciences courses has grown by 18% since 2004, since 2002 there has been an overall decline of 14%. By contrast the number of people in IT occupations in Wales has grown by 22% over the same time period.


8.1.3 Acceptances onto Higher Education Computing Courses

As is the case with applicants, figures for acceptances to Computing degree courses are not available for universities in Wales so group G, Mathematical and Computer Sciences courses (Computing degrees sit within this group) has been analysed.

The graph below details that following a 24% decline between 2002 and 2004, the number of acceptances onto Mathematical and Computing Sciences courses grew by 31% culminating in an overall growth of 0.3% for the period 2002 to 2008.

Figure 20: Acceptances onto Mathematical and Computer36 Science courses in Wales 2002-2008




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

Source: e-skills UK analysis of UCAS data based on subject line G4, 5, 6, 7 Home (UK) accepts.

36 Figures for Computing courses alone in Welsh HEIs is not available.

There has been an increase of acceptances onto IT related HE courses in Wales over the past four years


8.1.4 Qualifications from Computing and Telecoms degree courses

Whilst there has been continued growth in the number of IT professionals in Wales (growing in number by 110% since 1992), the number of IT & Telecoms qualifiers from Welsh Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) remained static from 2006/07 to 2007/08.

Qualifications data covers both undergraduate and post-graduate degrees. In 2007/08 there were 1,265 Computing and Telecoms degree qualifiers from HEIs in Wales, 4% of the total number of UK Computing and Telecoms degree qualifiers. Of this figure, 94% (1,195) were from Computing degrees and 6% (70) from Telecoms. Qualifiers from the University of Glamorgan made up 34% of the total number of Computing and Telecoms qualifiers in Wales.

Table 15: Qualifiers in Wales in Computing and Telecoms degrees

Higher Education Institution 2006/07 2007/08

Number % of total in Wales

Number % of total in Wales

University of Glamorgan 405 32% 430 34%

Swansea Metropolitan University

145 11% 140 11%

Cardiff University 105 8% 135 11%

Glyndwr University 120 9% 115 9%

Swansea University 140 11% 110 9%

Aberystwyth University 95 7% 95 8%

The University of Wales, Newport

135 11% 90 7%

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff

85 7% 80 6%

Bangor University 15 1% 50 4%

Trinity College, Carmarthen 15 1% 15 1%

The University of Wales, Lampeter

10 1% 5 0%

Total 1,270 100% 1,265 100%

Source: e-skills UK analysis of HESA qualifiers data

Note: Figures may not add up, due to rounding


The following table shows the number of qualifiers at undergraduate and post-graduate level for Computing and Telecoms in Wales in 200837, indicating that 55% of the Telecoms qualifiers in Wales are at post-graduate level, compared to 25% of the Computing qualifiers38. When compared to UK figures, Wales HEIs have a larger proportion of qualifiers in Computing and Telecoms at first degree level.

Table 16: Level of degree qualification

Wales UK

Computing Telecoms Computing Telecoms

Post-graduate 25% 54% 29% 60%

First degree 55% 44% 51% 35%

Undergraduate - other (e.g. Foundation degree)

20% 2% 20% 5%

Source: e-skills UK analysis of HESA qualifiers data


37 Using Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) codes G4, G5, G6, G7, G92 and H640, H641, H64338 Noting that a significant proportion of the post-graduate students are from overseas and may return to their

home country on completion


8.1.5 Graduate destinations by industry segment and occupation

The following data is based on Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE), a survey carried out by HESA six months after students leave a Higher Education Institution. The value of this information is as an indicator of relative proportions rather than of absolute numbers entering the sector (the actual numbers will be higher).

560 graduates reported having entered IT & Telecoms professional occupations from Welsh universities within six months of graduation, of which 46% were from Computing or Telecoms degrees and 54% from other disciplines. The following figure shows this in more detail.

Figure 21: Destinations of respondents who graduated from Welsh Universities, 2007-2008




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

Source: HESA Destinations of Graduate Leavers, 2007-08



The following table shows the destinations (location of employment by region of institution) of all graduate respondents entering IT & Telecoms occupations. It details that almost half (49%) of graduates from Welsh HEI’s found work within Wales, 12% the South West and 9% in the West Midlands.

Table 17: Destinations of all graduate respondents entering IT & Telecoms occupations, by region of employment and institution, 2007-08

Region of Institution

East of

England

East Midlands

London North East

North West

South East

South West

West Midlands

Yorkshire &

Humber

Northern Ireland

Scotland Wales

Reg

ion

of

Em

plo

ymen

t

East of England

45% 10% 5% 3% 2% 7% 3% 3% 4% 1% 1% 1%

East Midlands

2% 33% 1% 2% 3% 1% 1% 6% 8% 0% 1% 2%

London 25% 15% 67% 8% 9% 21% 16% 12% 9% 2% 8% 7%

North East

0% 1% 0% 53% 0% 1% 0% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0%

North West

1% 3% 1% 6% 63% 3% 1% 3% 11% 0% 3% 3%

South East

11% 14% 14% 7% 5% 39% 19% 7% 6% 2% 3% 8%

South West

3% 3% 2% 2% 2% 6% 51% 3% 2% 0% 2% 12%

West Midlands

2% 9% 1% 2% 3% 3% 2% 50% 4% 1% 1% 9%

Yorkshire & Humber

0% 4% 0% 7% 6% 2% 0% 1% 47% 0% 1% 1%

Northern Ireland

0% 0% 0% 1% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 80% 1% 0%

Scotland 0% 1% 0% 1% 0% 2% 0% 0% 1% 0% 72% 0%

Wales 0% 0% 0% 1% 2% 1% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 49%

Overseas 9% 3% 7% 4% 5% 5% 3% 5% 5% 15% 7% 8%

Not known

1% 2% 2% 4% 1% 6% 1% 10% 1% 0% 1% 1%

Largest proportion

2nd largest proportion

3rd largest proportion

Source: e-skills UK analysis of HESA Destinations Leavers, 2007/08


Of graduates who enter IT and Telecoms occupations in Wales, almost half are from Welsh HEIs


Looking in more detail at the 445 graduates (from all degree subjects) who entered IT & Telecoms professional occupations in Wales, the distribution shows graduate entry, as across the UK, is most likely to be into software professional roles and least likely to be into IT Strategy & Planning Professional roles. However, a third of entrants are into Associate Professional / Technician roles, compared to 19% across the UK.

Table 18: Graduate entry to IT & Telecoms occupational areas, 2007-08

SOC / Description Wales UK

Information & Communication Technology Managers 7.2% 11.4%

IT Strategy & Planning Professionals 5.4% 8.8%

Software Professionals 41.8% 45.8%

Technician roles 30.0% 19.3%

Other IT & Telecoms roles 15.6% 14.7%

Total 100% 100%

Source: DLHE Base 445 graduate respondents entering IT & Telecoms occupations from Welsh universities


8.2 Further Education

The analysis in this section is based on data provided by the Welsh Assembly Government for 2006/07 and 2007/08. Data on learners across Wales is gathered via the Lifelong Learning Wales Record (LLWR), and provides an overview of IT & Telecoms professional and IT user related training and education delivery by learning providers in Wales39.

8.2.1 IT & Telecoms professional training provision

Uptake of IT & Telecoms courses

Of the 9,000 people on IT & Telecoms professional courses in Wales during the academic year 2007/08, 90% were undertaking courses delivered through Further Education Institutions, 7% through Adult and Community Learning and 3% via Work Based Learning (WBL). Levels 1-3 made up 77% of the IT & Telecoms professional qualifications being taken in Wales in 2007/08. A further 18% is at entry level or level unknown.

Table 19: Uptake of IT & Telecoms courses

Source: Lifelong Learning Wales Record 2006/07, 2007/08

Note: Figures may not sum due to rounding

Level FE WBL ACL Total

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

0 30 0% 20 0% 0 0% 0 0% 60 21% 90 13% 100 1% 110 1%

1 3,150 31% 2,650 31% 10 4% 90 31% 80 29% 30 4% 3,240 30% 2,780 29%

2 2,830 28% 2,350 28% 100 37% 80 28% 0 0% 0 0% 2,940 27% 2,440 26%

3 1,850 18% 1,900 22% 150 56% 120 41% 10 4% 10 1% 2,010 19% 2,030 22%

4 70 1% 20 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 70 1% 30 0%

5 0 0% 30 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 30 0%

9 510 5% 270 3% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 20 3% 510 5% 290 3%

Entry 1,230 12% 1,000 12% 0 0% 0 0% 20 7% 20 3% 1,250 12% 1,010 11%

Higher 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%

Unknown 480 5% 240 3% 0 0% 0 0% 100 36% 500 75% 580 5% 740 8%

Grand Total

10,150 100% 8,480 100% 270 100% 290 100% 280 100% 670 100% 10,700 100% 9,440 100%

39 Within the LLWR data provided by WAG, the term learning providers constitutes the Further Education (FE) Colleges in Wales and training providers engaging in Work Based Learning (WBL) and Adult and Community Learning (ACL)


Gender

56% of people taking IT & Telecoms professional qualifications in Wales during the academic year 2007/08 were male. Work Based Learning courses (77%) and Further Education (57%) were dominated by males whilst those taking the Adult and Community Learning route were largely female.

Figure 22: Proportion ‘in learning’ on IT & Telecoms professional courses in Wales by gender




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


Completion status

People on IT & Telecoms professional courses in Wales through Further Education are the most (15%) and those who choose the Adult and Community Learning method the least likely to ‘withdraw’ (2%) from their course of learning. Whilst the Adult and Community Learning route has the highest completion rate, Further Education has the highest number of completions (6,030).

Table 20: People on IT & Telecoms professional courses in Wales by completion status

Completion Status

FE WBL ACL Total

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08


Continuing 990 10% 990 12% 100 36% 80 28% 80 28% 90 14% 1,160 11% 1,170 12%

Completed 7,290 72% 6,030 71% 120 43% 180 63% 190 70% 570 84% 7,600 71% 6,780 72%

Withdrawn 1,540 15% 1,290 15% 50 18% 20 8% 10 3% 10 2% 1,590 15% 1,320 14%

Transferred 330 3% 200 2% 0 1% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 330 3% 200 2%

Suspended 0 0% 0 0% 0 1% 0 1% 0 0% 0 0% 10 0% 0 0%

Total 10,150 100% 8,510 100% 270 100% 290 100% 280 100% 670 100% 10,700 100% 9,470 100%



8.2.2 IT user training provision

Uptake of IT user courses

Although there was a 13% decline in people taking IT user courses in Wales between 2006/07 and 2007/08, from 2005/06 to 2007/08 numbers increased by 14% with the majority of the decline between 2006/07 and 2007/08 accounted for by the 16% fall in numbers on level one IT user courses.

Of the 118,000 people on IT user courses in Wales during the academic year 2007/08, 81% were undertaking courses delivered through Further Education Institutions with Work Based Learning (WBL) accounting for just 16% and Adult and Community Learning 3% of delivery. 78% of all Further Education, Work Based Learning and Adult and Community Learning IT user learning taken in Wales in 2007/08 was at levels 1 or 2. A further 10% was at entry level or level unknown.

Table 21: Numbers ‘in learning’ on IT user courses in Wales by level


Note: Figures may not sum due to rounding.

Level FE WBL ACL Total

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08


0 100 0% 30 0% 0 0% 0 0% 110 3% 140 4% 210 0% 170 0%

1 49,510 47% 42,800 45% 10,960 43% 8,270 45% 720 22% 830 25% 61,190 46% 51,890 44%

2 35,620 34% 32,690 34% 10,630 41% 7,290 39% 100 3% 70 2% 46,350 34% 40,040 34%

3 6,950 7% 7,110 7% 2,010 8% 1,230 7% 0 0% 20 1% 8,960 7% 8,350 7%

4 10 0% 10 0% 10 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 20 0% 10 0%

5 0 0% 20 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 10 0% 0 0% 30 0%

9 3,060 3% 3,690 4% 0 0% 10 0% 570 17% 1,120 34% 3,630 3% 4,820 4%

Entry 5,990 6% 5,830 6% 2,150 8% 1,790 10% 0 0% 0 0% 8,140 6% 7,620 6%

Higher 50 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 50 0% 0 0%

Unknown 4,070 4% 3,520 4% 0 0% 0 0% 1,830 55% 1,100 34% 5,900 4% 4,620 4%

Grand Total

105,350 100% 95,690 100% 25,770 100% 18,580 100% 3,330 100% 3,270 100% 134,450 100% 117,550 100%

Numbers taking IT user courses in Wales have risen by 14% since 2005/06


Gender

58% of people ‘in learning’ on IT user courses in Wales during the academic year 2007/08 were female. Although Adult and Community Learning (72%) and Further Education (61%) routes had a higher proportion of female learners the majority of those taking the Work Based Learning route were male (57%).

Figure 23: People on IT user courses in Wales by route and gender




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


Completion status

People on IT user courses in Wales through Work Based Learning are the most (19%) and those who choose the Adult and Community Learning method the least likely to ‘withdraw’ (7%). Although both the Adult and Community Learning and Further Education routes have completion rates of 69%, Further Education has, in number, almost 30 times as many completions as those seen through Adult and Community Learning.

Table 22: People on IT user courses in Wales by route and completion status

Completion Status

FE WBL ACL Total

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08


Continuing 10,830 10% 12,770 13% 2,880 11% 2,450 13% 390 12% 650 20% 14,100 10% 15,870 14%

Completed 75,520 72% 66,450 69% 16,540 64% 11,940 64% 2,630 79% 2,260 69% 94,690 70% 80,660 69%

Withdrawn 15,130 14% 12,440 13% 4,950 19% 3,230 17% 240 7% 300 9% 20,310 15% 15,970 14%

Transferred 3,840 4% 3,990 4% 650 3% 340 2% 60 2% 60 2% 4,550 3% 4,380 4%

Suspended 40 0% 40 0% 750 3% 620 3% 0 0% 0 0% 790 1% 660 1%

Total 105,360 100% 95,690 100% 25,770 100% 18,585 100% 3,320 100% 3,270 100% 134,450 100% 117,550 100%


Note: Figures may not sum due to rounding


8.3 Schools and Colleges in Wales

8.3.1 A-levels

Data related to A-levels has been analysed for Computing and ICT. 'Computing' sets out to develop a broad range of skills and knowledge of Computing. ‘ICT’ sets out to encourage students to be ‘discerning users of ICT’.

The graph below shows that whilst the decline in students in Wales taking A-level Computing mirrors that seen across the UK (a 32% and 35% decrease in numbers respectively), the trend in Wales in the uptake of ICT A-level is the reverse of that seen across the UK. Numbers in Wales taking ICT A-level increased by 153% from 2005 to 2009, whilst across the UK numbers have fallen by 20% over the same time period.

Figure 24: A-level uptake for Computing and ICT in Wales, 2005-2009

Source: JCQ Provisional GCE A-level results, 2005-2009




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends

ICT A-level uptake has increased by 153% since 2005


8.3.2 GCSEs

Considering GCSE level education in Wales, there are a number of courses, including a GCSE in ICT, a GCSE double award in Applied ICT, and a short course GCSE in ICT.

Historically, numbers taking GCSE IT related courses in Wales has been in decline. However from 2008 to 2009 the number rose by 4%.

Table 23: Uptake of ICT GCSEs in Wales

Year ICT GCSE Applied ICT GCSE Short course ICT GCSE

2004 11,550 920 3,905

2005 11,120 1,060 4,320

2006 11,300 885 4,265

2007 10,880 455 4,170

2008 10,015 450 4,120

2009 10,290 455 4,425

Source: Joint Council for Qualifications

These GCSEs are focused on IT user skills, and thus not directly relevant to IT-related Higher Education or careers. However, there is an impact in terms of students’ understanding and attraction to IT in their future lives. A report from the Council for Professors and Heads of Computing (CPHC) concluded that ‘Many of the students who were taking neither Computing nor ICT at AS/A-level stated that their negative experience of GCSE ICT was a primary reason for this’.

A research study by e-skills UK came to a similar conclusion. 1,000 students were interviewed in a study to understand better the declining uptake of Computing degrees. Students reported that:

• Their image of IT-related degrees and careers was that they would be repetitive, boring and ‘more of the same’ - for example, the use of IT user office applications, such as word processing, spreadsheets and database software.

• The ICT GCSE had a major part to play in creating their (negative) perceptions. Respondents were often required by their school to take it, or they took it because they believed it to be an easier option than other GCSEs.

• However, IT at school prior to the GCSE curriculum was generally described as fun and interesting.


8.4 Gender

Whilst a gender imbalance is still prevalent on IT-related courses in Wales, it appears to be improving over time.

Table 24: Gender balance on IT-related courses in Wales

Country Qualification % of females

2003

% of females

2009

Variance

Wales ICT (Full Course) GCSE 44 45 1

UK ICT (Full Course) GCSE 40 45 5

Wales A-level Computing 18 22 4

UK A-level Computing 14 10 -4

Wales A-level ICT 31 46 15

UK A-level ICT 33 39 6

Wales IT & Telecoms professional occupations 22 17 -5

UK IT & Telecoms professional occupations 19 17 -2

Sources: DCSF, JCQ, UCAS, ONS LFS



This section sets out the key challenges Wales faces in terms of the IT user skills of the wider population.

9.1.1 Introduction

As the use of IT & Telecoms becomes ever more pervasive in the working environment, the need for (potential and existing) workers to continually develop and expand their IT user skills has become increasingly important. Without a rudimentary knowledge of IT even the most basic work activities are often unachievable whilst career progression is often not an option.

This section seeks to provide a better understanding of both the scale and nature of current development activity for IT users and assesses the adequacy of such actions in the light of current/future skills requirements voiced by employers.

9.1.2 Recruiters of IT users

Welsh employers responding to the e-skills UK 2009 employer survey indicated that (excluding vacancies for IT & Telecoms professionals) virtually all positions they were recruiting for (i.e. 96%) had a requirement that applicants hold at least some basic level of IT user skills. The extent to which applicant skills are matching up to those required by employers is variable however and for the UK at least a significant proportion of employers were found to have issues with not only the general hard/software skills of applicants but also specific application skills such as databases and spreadsheets for example.

Figure 25: Employer general views on the IT user skills of applicants for non-IT & Telecoms positions, UK


9.0 The wider population and use of IT

It is a near universal requirement that applicants for work in Wales should have some level of IT user skills




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


9.1.3 The incidence of IT user skills development

According to the latest estimates from ONS, only around 9% of UK workers (including IT & Telecoms professionals) will have received IT training each quarter though ‘the higher the level’ of occupation’ held, the more likely it is that staff will have received training in this area (i.e. whilst 13% of professional staff had received IT user training during the past 3 months this compares with 12% of associate professionals, 11% of Clerks and just 8% of service workers).

9.1.4 The nature of IT user skills development

In general, IT users in the UK are most likely to have developed their IT user skills through self study and/or via their social/work networks, whilst a much lower proportion have obtained these skills by way of training courses organised/funded by their employer.

Figure 26: Means of obtaining IT user skills, UK

Source: ONS derived from the ONS ICT Households and Individuals survey 2006

Only around 9% of workers received IT user skills training each quarter




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Year

IT P

rofe

ssio

nal w

orkf

orce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


9.1.5 The incidence of IT user skills gaps

Just over one in six (17%) Welsh employers reported the existence of gaps in their IT users skills during the first quarter of 2009 (e-skills UK 2009 employer survey), significantly more than the average figure for the UK as a whole (11%).

As with IT & Telecoms professionals, the most common reason for the existence of IT user skills gaps (according to all UK employers) was the burden of existing work commitments, whilst many other factors thought to contribute were, to an extent, unavoidable (such as the introduction of new systems/processes or equipment which is likely to incur some lag in skills attainment as familiarisation takes place).

Figure 27: Reasons for the existence of IT user skills gaps, UK


9.1.6 Meeting the current IT user skills needs of employers

As with IT professionals, companies responding to the e-skills UK 2009 employer survey were asked to rate the level of IT user skills held/needed by their staff (using a set of competency identifiers based around the e-skills UK IT User Skills Framework40) and the differences in these ratings were compared/grossed up to provide estimates for the volume of training needed to bring the user skills of staff in line with that required by Welsh employers.

Gaps in IT user skills are reported by just over one in six businesses in Wales

40 Currently being revised as part of continuing development work for the ‘e-skills Passport’

Around 1.9 million development units need to be delivered if current IT user skills of workers in Wales are to match those needed by employers




(C+D)18,600





0.0


London 5.4


East of England 3.4

2.9West Midlands

Scotland 2.8



East Midlands 2.4

Wales 1.4



1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

GVA (£bn)



0

25%

50%

75%

100%

1-10 11-49 50-199 200+


0%

1%

2%

8%

8%

10%

13%

25%

33%

0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 35%30% 40%


Energy & Water


Other services

Construction

Manufacturing


Banking & Finance


0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

£600

£400

£200

£0

36%29%

24%30%

37%28% 27%

20%14%

35%39%

38% 23%16%

23%35%

35% 41%

24%

21%21%

29%34% 34%

31%

26%30%

12% 17% 18% 13% 14%6%

20%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

16-29 30-39 40-49 50+

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

ACLWBLFE

39%

61%

39%

61%56%

44%

57%

43%

28%

72%

28%

72%

FoundationTrends

1995 2000


2005 2007 2010 2015 2020




Innovation







Digital Natives

Unemployment500

Retire160


1,930

IT&T JobSwitcher

620

Look afterfamily

90

Become a student

220

Otherinactive

300


610


3,520


occupations1,840

Unemployment580

Education660

Other Inactive440


320


4,130


Internet 2%

Database 4%

Networking 4%

Management 5%

SoftwareEngineering

7%


22%


55%

47%

38%

44%

48%

82%

75%

71%

27%

22%

22%

9%

21%

26%

2%52%

35%

34%

29%

9%

4%

3%



Business skills

Skills in general





56%

57%

77%

69%

68%

68%

71%

15%

2%

15%

21%

23%

25%

15%29%

28%

21%

17%

12%

9%

4%



Database skills




Spreadsheet skills


0

30%

20%

10%

40%

50%

60%

Q2.01 Q2.02 Q2.03 Q2.04 Q2.05 Q2.06 Q2.07 Q2.08 Q2.09








8%Other







16%General company

15%IT User skills



6%Other (general)

4%Finance

0

4,000

6,000

5,000

1,000

3,000

2,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Year

0

5000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008


0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008







15%Other


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

UK

South West

South East

London

East of England

West Midlands

East Midlands

Yorkshire & Humber

North West

North East

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Wales







201820092001

45,000

30,000

15,000

05,900

6,700

12,700

11,700

11,400

12,900

13,600

13,900

12,800






230

140100

15 120

60

125

10% 12

%

12%

12%

13% 14%

14%

14% 15

%

15%

16%

16%

17%

17%

17%

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Aus

tria

Por

tuga

l

Italy

Nor

way

Pol

and

Slo

veni

a

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Slo

vaki

a

Ger

man

y

Den

mar

k

Irela

nd UK

Sw

eden

18%

Finl

and

21%

Hun

gary

23%

Rom

ania

23%

Bul

garia

18%

Wal

es

95%

4% 1% 1%

29%

13%

21%

36%


£500

£410


£450


1,080

Q2.08

1,200

Q3.08

990

Q4.08

770

Q1.09

640

Q2.09


0

10,000

5,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

YearIT

Pro

fess

iona

l wor

kfor

ce

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

App

lican

ts



Some other way 2%







2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%

ACL TOTALWBLFE

55%

45%

57%

43%

87%

13%

77%

23%

39%

61%

35%

65%

55%

45%

56%

44%

2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08 2006/07 2007/08

Male Female

0

600

400

200

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

ICT Computing

EmergingTrends


Table 25: Current upskilling requirement of IT users in Wales, by broad competency level

Foundation (level 1)

Intermediate (level 2)

Advanced (level3/3+)

Total development

units

Using IT Systems 13% 87% 138,000

Improving Productivity Using IT 4% 76% 20% 290,000

Using IT to Find and Exchange Information

72% 28% 936,000

Using Productivity Tools and Applications

10% 47% 43% 575,000

Total 4% 61% 36% 1,939,000


The results of this analysis show that some 1.9 million development units41 would need to be administered to equalise the IT user skills held/needed by IT users working in Wales, the majority of which would be required at Intermediate-Advanced level42 and often in the area of ‘Using IT to Find and Exchange Information’43.

9.1.7 Meeting the future IT user skills needs of employers

Having established the level of IT skills currently held by IT users alongside the level needed by their employer, respondents to the e-skills UK 2009 employer survey were then asked about the IT user skills likely to be needed over the coming 3 years.

The findings of this inquiry showed that a further 5.3 million units will need to be delivered over the coming three years if the balance is to be maintained between skills held/needed and that the majority of this development will likely be required at advanced level and mainly in the areas of ‘Improving Productivity Using IT’, ‘Using IT to Find and Exchange Information’ and ‘Using Productivity Tools and Applications’.

Table 26: Future upskilling requirements of IT users in Wales, by broad competency level

Foundation (level 1)

Intermediate (level 2)

Advanced (level3/3+)

Total development

units

Using IT Systems 21% 29% 50% 635,000

Improving Productivity Using IT 15% 28% 57% 1,496,000

Using IT to Find and Exchange Information

8% 27% 64% 1,492,000

Using Productivity Tools and Applications

32% 28% 41% 1,718,000

Total 19% 28% 53% 5,341,000


41 One training development unit equates to a movement of one level in one sub-skills group of the IT User Skills Framework

42 These levels are NVQ/SVQ equivalent43 Data presented is based on UK findings pro-ratered amongst the four nations according to respective

workforce estimates

A further 5.3 million development units will be required if the skills of IT users in Wales are to remain equal to those needed by employers over the next 3 years


e-skills UK has been licensed as directly responsible for IT & Telecoms professionals in all sectors and using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes the following table sets out these occupations for which e-skills UK has exclusive responsibility:

SOC (2000) Summary Related Job Titles

1136 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGERS

Job holders in this unit group plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the work necessary to operate and provide information communication technology services, to maintain and develop associated network facilities and to provide software and hardware support

Computer manager, Computer operations manager

Data processing manager, IT manager

Systems manager

Telecoms manager

2131 IT STRATEGY AND PLANNING PROFESSIONALS

IT Strategy & Planning professionals provide advice on the effective utilisation of information technology in order to solve business problems or to enhance the effectiveness of business functions.

Computer consultant

Software consultant

2132 SOFTWARE PROFESSIONALS

Software Professionals are responsible for all aspects of the design, application, development and operation of software systems.

Analyst-programmer

Computer programmer

Software engineer

Systems analyst

Systems designer

Games developer

Web designer/developer

3131 IT OPERATIONS TECHNICIANS

IT Operations Technicians are responsible for the day-to-day running of computer systems and networks including the preparation of backup systems, and for performing regular checks to ensure the smooth functioning of such systems

Computer operator

Database manager

IT technician

Network technician

Systems administrator

Web master

3132 IT USER SUPPORT TECHNICIANS

IT User Support Technicians are responsible for providing technical support, advice and guidance for customers or IT users within an organisation, either directly or by telephone, e-mail or other network interaction

Help desk operator

Helpline operator (computing)

IT helpline support officer

Support technician (computing)

Systems support officer

Annex A: IT & Telecoms Professional Occupations


4136 DATABASE ASSISTANTS/CLERKS

Database Assistants and Clerks create, maintain, preserve and update information held in electronic databases, computer files, voice-mailboxes and email systems

Computer clerk

Data entry clerk

Data processor

VDU operator

5245 COMPUTER ENGINEERS, INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE

Computer Engineers install, maintain and repair personal computers, mainframe and other computer hardware

Computer engineer

Computer maintenance engineer

Computer service engineer

Computer service technician

5242 TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERS

Telecommunications Engineers install, maintain and repair public and private telephone systems.

Technical officer (telecommunications)

Telecommunications engineer

Telephone engineer

Telephone installation engineer

Telephone technician

5243 LINE REPAIRERS AND CABLE JOINTERS

Line Repairers and Cable Jointers install, maintain, test and repair overhead, underground, surface and submarine electricity and telecommunications cables.

Cable jointer

Cable repairer (electric)

Overhead linesman


Using the SIC definitions of 2003 and 2007 the following table sets out the SIC codes within e-skills UK’s core footprint i.e. the industry sector(s) for which e-skills UK has been exclusively licensed.

SIC 2003 SIC 2007

22.33 Reproduction of computer media 18.20/3 Reproduction of computer media

64.2 Telecommunications 58.2 Software Publishing

72 Computer and Related Activities 58.21 Publishing of computer games

72.1 Hardware consultancy 58.29 Other Software publishing

72.2 Software consultancy & supply 61 Telecommunications

72.21 Publishing of software 61.1 Wired telecommunications activities

72.22 Other software consultancy & supply 61.2 Wireless telecommunications activities

72.3 Data processing 61.3 Satellite telecommunications activities

72.4 Database activities 61.9 Other telecommunications activities

72.5 Maintenance and repair of office, accounting and computing machinery

62 Computer programming, consultancy and related activities

72.6 Other computer related activities 62.01 Computer programming activities

62.01/1 Ready-made interactive leisure and entertainment software development

62.01/2 Business and domestic software development

62.02 Computer consultancy activities

62.03 Computer facilities management activities

62.09 Other information technology activities

63.1 Data processing, hosting and related activities; web portals

63.11 Data processing, hosting and related activities

63.12 Web portals

95.1 Repair of computers and communications equipment

95.11 Repair of computers and peripheral equipment

95.12 Repair of communication equipment

Annex B: IT & Telecoms Industrial Classifications


Other relevant SIC Codes

e-skills UK has an interest in the elements of management consultancy concerned with technology and business change:

70.22/9 Management consultancy activities (other than financial management)

e-skills UK has a shared interest in technology manufacturing, which is owned by SEMTA:

26.2 Manufacture of computers and peripheral equipment

26.20 Manufacture of computers and peripheral equipment

26.3 Manufacture of communication equipment

26.30 Manufacture of communication equipment

26.30/1 Manufacture of telegraph and telephone apparatus and equipment

26.30/9 Manufacture of communication equipment (other than telegraph and telephone apparatus and equipment)

27.31 Manufacture of fibre optic cables

Other codes of relevance but less direct interest to e-skills UK include wholesale and retail sale of ICT equipment (owned by Skills for Logistics and Skillsmart respectively):

46.5 Wholesale of Information and Communication Equipment

46.51 Wholesale of computers, computer peripheral equipment and software

46.52 Wholesale of electronic and telecommunications equipment and parts

47.4 Retail sale of information and communication equipment in specialised stores

47.41 Retail sale of computers, peripheral units and software in specialised stores

47.42 Retail sale of telecommunications equipment in specialised stores

47.42/1 Retail sale of mobile telephones in specialised stores

47.42/9 Retail sale of telecommunications equipment (other than mobile telephones) not elsewhere classified in specialised stores

CPHC Conference of Professors and Heads of Computing


DCSF Department for Children, Schools and Families

DLHE Destination of Leavers from Higher Education

FE Further Education

GCSE General Certificate of Secondary Education

GVA Gross Value Added44

HE Higher Education

HEI Higher Education Institution

HESA Higher Education Statistics Agency

HND Higher National Diploma

ICT Information and Communications Technology

IDBR Inter Departmental Business Register

JACS Joint Academic Coding System

JCQ Joint Council for Qualifications

LFS Labour Force Survey

LSC Learning and Skills Council

NVQ National Vocational Qualifications

ONS Office for National Statistics

PROCOM The IT Professional Competency Model

SIC Standard Industrial Classification

SME Small and Medium Enterprise

SOC Standard Occupational Classification

SSC Sector Skills Council

SQA Scottish Qualifications Authority

UCAS Universities and Colleges Admissions Service

WAG Welsh Assembly Government

Annex C: Glossary

44 GVA measures the contribution to the economy of each individual producer, industry or sector in the United Kingdom. It is the difference between the value of goods and services produced and the cost of the raw materials and other inputs which are used up in production, in any given sector or industry. GVA + taxes on products - subsidies on products = Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GDP is a key indicator of the state of the whole economy


The IT professional Competency Model (e-skills procom) is being established as an industry-recognised, internationally relevant training framework for organising courses and qualifications by the disciplines of the IT profession. Built on IT professional National Occupational Standards, and linked to the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA), e-skills procom defines knowledge, understanding and competencies for seven broad disciplines (and their sub-disciplines) at five levels of progression, incorporating technical, business and personal skills.

The disciplines are:

1. Sales and marketing

2. Business change

3. Programme and project management

4. Solutions architecture

5. Solution development and implementation

6. Information management and security

7. IT service management and delivery

e-skills procom is the basis for e-skills UK's work to reform and simplify the qualifications map for IT professionals. It will help IT professionals to achieve recognition for their skills, and employers to plan training and development. It will also help providers of education and training to develop new courses to meet the needs of different IT disciplines.

e-skills UK is now developing a comprehensive mapping of courses and qualifications against e-skills procom. This mapping will be accessible from SFIA, and the courses will be available through the National Skills Academy, which will be launched in 2010.

In addition, the new IT and Telecoms Professional National Occupational Standards (NOS) have been developed in parallel with and as part of e-skills procom. For more details on the NOS, Standards and Skills Frameworks and a overview brochure of e-skills procom go to www.e-skills.com/Skills-Frameworks/1906

Annex D: e-skills procom


Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a quarterly sample survey of households living at private addresses in Great Britain. Its purpose is to provide information on the UK labour market that can then be used to develop, manage, evaluate and report on labour market policies. The questionnaire design, sample selection, and interviewing are carried out by the Social and Vital Statistics Division of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the Statistical Outputs Group of the ONS.

ONS publishes full UK LFS results. However, the fieldwork iscarriedoutseparately;byONSforGB,andbytheCentralSurvey Unit of the Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Department of Trade and Investment (DETINI).

The survey seeks information on respondents' personal circumstances and their labour market status during a specific reference period, normally a period of one week or four weeks (depending on the topic) immediately prior to the interview.

More information is available at:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Source.asp?vlnk=358&More=Y

Office for National Statistics Inter Departmental Business Register

The Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) is a list of UK businesses maintained by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and combines the former Central Statistical Office (CSO) VAT based business register and the former Employment Department (ED) employment statistics system. It complies with European Union Regulation (EC) No 177/2008 establishing a common framework for business registers for statistical purposes.

It provides a sampling frame for surveys of businesses carried out by the ONS and by other government departments. It is also a key data source for analysis of business activity.

The IDBR covers businesses in all parts of the economy, missing some very small businesses operating without VAT or PAYE schemes (self employed and those with low turnover and without employees) and some non-profit organisations, representing nearly 99 per cent of UK economic activity. The Department for Business Innovation & Skills makes an estimate of the total number of unregistered businesses in its Small And Medium Enterprise Statistics publication.


http://www.statistics.gov.uk/idbr/idbr.asp

Office for National Statistics Annual Business Inquiry

The Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) is conducted in two parts: one dealing with employment, the other with financial information. The financial inquiry covers about two thirds of the UKeconomyincluding:production;construction;distributionandserviceindustries;agriculture(part),hunting,forestryandfishing. The coverage of the employment inquiry is wider.


http://www.statistics.gov.uk/abi/

Annex E: Key Sources of Information


Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS)

UCAS is responsible for managing applications to Higher Education courses in the UK, providing application services across a range of subject areas and modes of study for UK universities and colleges.

UCAS carries out research, consultancy and advisory work for schools, colleges, careers services, professional bodies and employers. They also offer continuing professional development tailored to meet the needs of individual institutions or subject areas.


www.ucas.ac.uk

Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Qualifiers Data

HESA is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about Higher Education


www.hesa.ac.uk

Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ)

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) consists of AQA, City & Guilds, CCEA, Edexcel, OCR, SQA and WJEC, the seven largest providers of qualifications in the UK, offering GCSE, GCE, AEA, Scottish Highers, Entry Level, Vocational and vocationally-related qualifications.


www.jcq.org.uk

Digital Britain The Digital Britain White Paper, published on the 16th June 2009, sets out the importance of the Digital Economy to the nation’s economic future, and how it will drive future industrial capability and competitiveness.

It makes the case that the United Kingdom’s communications infrastructure and increased Digital Participation are key to building a 21st century knowledge economy, and must be considered essential objectives if we are to become world-leaders, and reap the benefits of this rapidly transforming sector

A copy of the report is available at:

http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/digitalbritain-finalreport-jun09.pdf

e-skills UK: Business and Information Technology, including Software, Internet & Web, IT Services, Telecommunications and Business Change.

e-skills UK is the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology, rated ‘outstanding’ in the relicensing of Sector Skills Councils in 2009. We work on behalf of employers to ensure the UK has the technology skills it needs to succeed in a global digital economy.

© 2009 Reserved, e-skills UK All rights reserved. No part of this material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilised in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior authorisation and credit to e-skills UK. An e-skills UK publication For further information please contact: e-skills UK1 Castle LaneLondonSW1E 6DRUK

Documents

Technology Counts IT & Telecoms Insights 2010 · 4. IT & Telecoms in the UK - the current position (see section 4) There are nearly 4,000 workplaces in the IT & Telecoms industry