The skills gap in the Scottish tech sector is a well-known issue. While the tech industry is growing 1.5 times faster than any other industry in Scotland, 1 in 10 job openings here are in tech. 

However, nearly one-quarter (23%) of businesses say that the existing workforce lacks basic data skills, and 37% say the workforce lacks advanced digital skills. 

Nearly half of all businesses say that staff shortages are impairing their ability to implement new technologies, dramatically holding back their advancement. 

DIGIT Expo’s panel, Closing the Gap: Skilling Scotland’s Tech Sector, hoped to address these concerning statistics and alleviate ongoing worries about the tech labour force in Scotland. 

Tackling the Skills Gap in Scottish Tech

Phil Ford, Head of Digital Technologies and Financial Services at SDS, explained that “the labour market is very tight, there’s a record number of job postings.”

The post Brexit ramifications on migration and an overall loss of EU workers coupled with an ageing population add to the “structural challenges” Scotland faces in attracting and maintaining a tech workforce. 

The panel touched on major misconceptions of what the tech industry looked like – “a bunch of coders in hoodies at three in the morning drinking red bull,” as Peter Proud, Founder and CEO of Forrit put it, but coding is only a small part of what the tech industry is.

“We as an industry have done a very poor job of articulating what are the skills, what the jobs are, what the roles are and how flexible you can be in the industry,” Proud continued.

Further, more industries are entering the tech world, Ford pointed out, so health services, finance, and law firms alike are all looking for tech savvy workers. The promotion of tech jobs has therefore never been more important. 

Addressing this in schools, Toni Scullion, a computing science teacher and founder of DressCode, said that teachers are “the army on the ground that can champion tech roles,” and noted the lack of awareness among parents and guardians. 

“But computing science isn’t taught in every secondary school in Scotland. It’s got the lowest uptake of every STEM subject, and I mean by a mile,” she added. 

The problems are quite clear: but how do we solve them?

Promoting Tech Jobs: Key Themes

Language is important, according to Ford, who said the promotion of tech needed to be “more inclusive” not just for people of different backgrounds, but more promotional of what tech allows you to do. Focusing on the outcomes, rather than the job itself, to allow young people to be inspired by technology. 

Apprenticeships were also the main answer, not just for young people, but for those later in life who wanted to retrain for the digital age. 

Ceri Shaw, Chief Delivery Officer at CodeClan, commented that “you can join the tech force later in life and bring a lot of valuable skills” from other walks of life. 

Further, retraining will improve staff retention, according to Shaw: “If your staff can see a way forward, to grow their skills and shape their knowledge within the company, then they stay.” 

Apprenticeships are being offered for retraining as well as for young people wanting to enter the world of tech. 

Commenting on the number of apprenticeship and training opportunities available, Ford said: “The pathways are there, but there’s still a bit of work to promote them.”

Scullion also noted that most schools push straight for university rather than encouraging alternative life paths, including apprenticeships. 

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Proud cited his own story, coming from a council estate in Dunfermline, and how apprenticeships changed his life and changed the lives of others. 

“One of the things we need to push and shout about is apprenticeships as a first choice, not a second choice,” he said. 

Proud reflected on what people who joined the ranks from a poor background tended to care about most, noting that owning a home was so valuable to young people: “That’s what we can do,” Proud stressed. 

The success stories of people like Proud were important in themselves, said Scullion: “That’s what 12-year-olds can relate to. It’s those stories we need to use, and we’ve got them in Scotland – we absolutely need to capitalise on them.”

Inspiration and aspiration were keys to getting young people involved in the tech sector. The panel noted all the tech sector had to offer: “The tech industry gives you freedom to work the hours you want to work, earn the money you want to earn, and have the career you want to have,” Proud concluded. 

Getting back to basics – inspiring children with stories, retraining loyal staff, and promoting the flexibility of the tech industry – was the main solution to address the workforce shortage. 

“This is a long term game,” Proud said. “If we can start to inspire kids to have aspirations for themselves, to embrace education to then take hold of opportunity, then we would benefit as well.”

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