With Tech City growing by leaps and bounds, IT contractors in the capital are bracing for a serious increase in levels of demand for their services.
London’s tech sector has been one of the global hot spots for information technology for years now, and it’s widely thought that it’s helping to drive the vast growth of tech firms in the UK over the past three years. In fact, there are twice as many British digital technology companies than there were just a few years ago – bringing with them more than half a million new positions – and Tech City is absolutely the epicentre.
Now, the writing on the wall says that Tech City is going to be expanding like mad throughout 2014. This is a fantastic bit of news for anyone who’s interested in the UK’s supremacy as an information technology powerhouse, and it goes double for those of us with our ears down to the ground when it comes to the economic recovery (or lack thereof in some cases). However, there is one problem with the expansion of Tech City, and it’s the same problem that the whole country is facing: the skills shortage. There’s decidedly fewer skilled and qualified permanent workers to go around for all the job vacancies there are at the moment, and this could lead to some rather promising growth opportunities possibly cut short – and this could have a chilling effect not just on Tech City but on the entire economy in general.
Luckily there are a large number of highly experienced IT contractors specialising in per-project work that would be happy to take on new contracts for the New Year. Freelancers and umbrella company contractors are highly flexible and usually quite good at what they do, considering it takes a keen mind and a dedication to providing high-quality solutions for clients if you want to be a successful contractor. Contracting can help fill the gaps left by the skills shortage, especially since it’s ravaging the number of permanent workers that are available to fill these roles.
Contracting is of course a stop-gap measure at best, but it’s much better than letting the tech industry fall flat on its face. Hopefully the time that contractors will buy the industry will enable more permanent employees to enter the workforce! I certainly think it’s something that can be accomplished, don’t you?
