COUNTRY FOCUS : UK
More than a quarter ( 27 %) of the HR decision-makers surveyed say their organisation faces the biggest lack of skilled workers in cybersecurity , followed by software architecture ( 15 %) and data analysis ( 14 %). Despite this , only a third ( 33 %) are willing to spend more than £ 10,000 on recruitment and L & D to hire cybersecurity talent . Meanwhile , the majority of organisations plan to spend no more than £ 10,000 on recruitment and L & D for data analysis ( 71 %) and software architecture ( 68 %) skills .
Instead , almost a third of organisations plan to spend up to or more than £ 20,000 on recruitment for AI and ML ( 32 %) and cloud ( 31 %). Additionally , more than a quarter of organisations will spend up to or more than £ 20,000 on AI and ML ( 29 %) and cloud ( 28 %) L & D to upskill employees . Organisations will spend the most on L & D for GenZ ( average £ 13,962 ), followed by £ 13,608 for Millennials and £ 13,495 for GenX over the next 12 months .
Disparity in recruitment vs . L & D spend
Encouragingly , the majority ( 83 %) of vertical industries plan to spend between £ 25,000 –£ 50,000 on overall recruitment for skilled tech vacancies over the next 12 months . Yet only 78 % will spend the same amount on tech-related L & D .
More than a quarter ( 27 %) of the HR decision-makers surveyed say their organisation faces the biggest lack of skilled workers in cybersecurity .
The biggest barrier to upskilling current employees for more than two-fifths ( 21 %) of organisations is insufficient resources , followed by a lack of internal personnel ( 19 %) and a lack of internal buy-in ( 17 %). In the tech sector specifically , 21 % of organisations say lack of leadership support is a key barrier to upskilling current employees . However , across all industries combined , 58 % of HR decision-makers feel ‘ significantly ’ supported by leadership when it comes to investment in tech-related L & D .
“ It ’ s encouraging that 80 % of companies within the UK ’ s tech , finance and retail sectors have increased investment for tech-related learning and development over the past three years . However , our data suggests that further investment is needed to recession-proof the UK ’ s vertical industries ,” said Alexia Pedersen , VP of EMEA at O ’ Reilly .
The technology sector is planning to spend the most on overall recruitment ( average of £ 33,676 ), compared to £ 31,651 on L & D . Additionally , the finance sector will spend an average of £ 33,075 on recruitment compared to £ 31,400 on L & D , while the retail and e-commerce sector will spend an average of £ 29,275 on recruitment versus £ 28,801 on L & D .
“ With the pound currently at a 37-year low against the dollar , now is the time for companies to deploy upskilling programmes alongside ongoing recruitment efforts . Likewise , employees should prioritise L & D to safeguard their role and make themselves an invaluable asset to their organisation . This will be key to creating a highly skilled workforce that keeps British businesses at the forefront of their industries globally .” p
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