The skills gap is a serious issue and is costing UK businesses more than £2bn every year. Technology continues to play an increasingly important role in the way many businesses operate and the need for skilled workers is more evident than ever. Companies are short of some 20,000 engineers and technicians every year and the UK will need 1.8 million more by 2025.

According to findings the persistent skills gap is damaging the prospects of many firms. Many businesses say that the issue is increasing staff workloads and 29% reports that the skills shortage is leading to higher operating costs. A further 18% say that the problem is causing difficulties in meeting customer requirements.

What can be done to tackle the skills shortage?

While there is no quick solution to fix the skill shortage issue, there are certain things businesses can do to help close the gap:

Training and development

In the words of Virgin CEO Richard Branson: “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” Ensure people feel supported when it comes to career development. When an employee feels valued staff will rarely leave. Pay and Benefits are important as well but companies need to show a deeper commitment to their people. A focus on training and learning is equally important, and this goes for employees at all levels. Educational programs, courses and training must be personalised and relevant. a focus on modern and relevant training is crucial to addressing the skills shortage from the inside out.

Salary

One way how tech employers are addressing the skills shortage is by offering better pay. Tech salaries have been going up year after year. But is this sustainable? Around a third of tech businesses now say that candidates are asking for more money than companies can afford to pay.

A more even workforce

Then there is also another solution that could help to close the talent gap a little more. The current talent shortage could get significantly less by getting more women into the tech sector. At the moment women are very under-represented. Currently the tech industry relies heavily on a male workforce.

Talent from abroad

Companies have also been looking for talent abroad. The UK IT sector is more reliant on workers from other countries than the average for other sectors. 13% of the UK’s tech sector workforce is a non-UK citizen. For the rest of the UK economy this is 10%

With the IT sector being more reliant on talent from abroad, Brexit comes into play. Consequently, Brexit has emerged as something of a concern for UK tech employers. 41% thinks Brexit will make it more difficult to attract talent.

The Government has to recognise that some of the high-level digital skills businesses need will come from overseas. So, a pragmatic immigration system needs to be in place to provide firms with access to the workers required to fill the gaps.

Recruitment strategy

Look further than the usual recruitment strategy and look for candidates from less well-known universities or with different qualifications. Targeting more diverse tech employees not only gives you a bigger base of talent to hire from, it also gives you a more creative and productive team too. Different perspectives and backgrounds lead to more diversity in ideas, knowledge and ways of tackling the many challenges that tech companies face.

Set yourself apart from the competition. Make sure you attract tech talent by showing what’s unique about your business and why candidates should be excited to work with you. It’s not all about salary. Today’s talent finds it important to work for a company that they feel has the same values as them.

Mentoring scheme

A great way to let people grow and develop their careers in your company is through a mentoring scheme. A mentoring scheme leverages the knowledge and experience of senior staff to develop the careers of more junior staff.

Are apprenticeships the solution?

Schools and universities aren’t turning out enough people with the right skills to close gaps in some sectors, but the government has a plan to change this. They want to create 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. This will be paid for in part by a new employer levy introduced in April this year.

As of April, companies with a pay bill of more than £3m have been charged a compulsory levy of 0.5% of their wage bill, which employers in England can claim back to fund new apprenticeships – the government will top up these funds by 10%, and levy-paying employers have a £15,000 allowance to invest in apprenticeships.

At the moment the IT and Telecommunications and banking sectors are offering the most apprenticeships in the UK. Apprenticeships provide skilled workers for the future. Apprenticeship training helps employees to improve their skills which will benefit the company in the long term. This will help fill any skill gaps and allow the business to source future managers and leaders from within.