Gatsby Benchmarks
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Recruiting young
people in the digital
economy
Jason Fowler, Fujitsu’s director of HR for the UK & Ireland, talked to Tom Ritchie about
the skills young people will need in the digital economy and the benefits of apprenticeships.
H
ow is the digital economy
affecting the skills
organisations require
from young people?
The first way is fairly obvious in that the digital
economy demands more technical skills than
ever before. And the distinction between
general industry, general employment and
technology has completely disappeared; what
isn’t technology anymore? The pressure on
organisations to hire, build and create their
own technical capability — to support
their own digital transformation — is huge.
The second aspect is that it’s no longer
enough to be great at technology and
technology alone. The tech team no longer
sits in a room on its own speaking to machines
or to each other. What we need are brilliant
technical people with the ability to interact
with others.
What skills does Fujitsu look for in
its candidates for early careers?
Empathy, that ability to collaborate; people
who are able to think and work in teams to
understand what a piece of technology could
do — how could it be applied to deliver
The tech team no longer sits
in a room on its own speaking
to machines or to each other
32 // ROUTES INTO WORK
commercial and societal benefit? If you’re
coming straight from school, a STEM
educational background gives you a
foundation upon which you can then bring
technical capability because you’ve got that
mental logic around how it all fits together.
How is Fujitsu engaging
school leavers?
We have an apprentice scheme, a degree
apprentice scheme and a graduate
programme, and have made a significant
investment in degree apprentices as well as
reskilling existing employees and recruiting
experienced staff.
Bringing in young talent is a great way of
building for now and for the future. It’s a talent
pipeline that has a much greater affinity with
the organisation. We feel we’re invested in
them and they’re invested in us.
We have success stories from our industry,
not least from our cybersecurity business — a
hot topic for most organisations nowadays.
How can employers help
educators to bridge the skills gap?
Employers need to be much clearer about
what they need when they’re talking
about digital skills. At Fujitsu, we try to be really
specific and have a lot of partnerships with
schools as well as with universities for degree
apprentices in technology in Manchester.
We have a role not only in describing the
problem, but also in getting involved in close
partnerships with schools, universities and
colleges to help them shape solutions.