Are you aware that the technical skills gap is more acute than ever?

For many businesses, successful growth, remaining productive and staying ahead of the competition is the ultimate goal.

Having staff with the right skills and expertise is a vital requisite for a business maintaining a progressive attitude.

But with the IT sector facing a shortage of well-trained employees, it will require more planning and preparation to make sure your organisation succeeds.

Most businesses are aware that the technical skills gap is more acute than ever.

Already struggling to recruit the right calibre of professionals to fill the vacancies arising within their organisation, it’s becoming increasingly evident there won’t be a positive solution to the problem anytime soon.

The route to rectify this issue can be a costly one, especially if you’re starting from the ground up. But if the available resolutions aren’t doing the job, it could be time for businesses to take some responsibility bridging the digital skills gap.

How can business help reduce the technical skills gap?

The IT industry is continuously changing. New roles evolve from the introduction of cutting-edge technology that helps improve business performance, but for the uptake to be successful, it requires the employment of highly skilled professionals.

Singapore has been identified as one of the global leaders when deploying the latest tech within business scenarios. However, this rapid adoption has placed more emphasis on the growing skills gap, forcing organisations to bring in new staff.

Maintaining a steady influx of new recruits is vital to keeping productivity levels high. Trailblazers in their chosen fields, it’s up to these people who have all the latest know-how to help your performance improve.

But as businesses look to expand, these new high flyers can lack the relevant experience in the chosen target market, and without extra in-house training, they can struggle to have an instant positive impact.

For an organisation to remain productive, they also need to provide the right training and opportunities to current staff. This enables them to stay in the workforce for longer and can give every team a better overall balance.

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Many CEOs value experience and market knowledge highly, especially in the IT sector, as these are things that can’t be taught. It’s this experience that makes long-term employees invaluable to your business.

When it comes to reducing the technical skills gap, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach for businesses to follow. What works for one may backfire for another, meaning you’ll need to come up with a plan that fits with your growth strategy.

Where can businesses find the right talent?

Finding an initiative to bridge the skills gap is a top priority for the Singaporean government. Along with introducing the Smart Nation programme, it has also provided a significant amount of investment in developing the digital capabilities of all businesses.

When looking to recruit, hiring from the local talent pool should always be a top priority for organisations. A company should have the ability to attract homegrown IT professionals if it offers the right perks.

But statistics show that Singapore faces the issue of an ageing population, which further implicates the problems of the growing technical skills gap, despite the Economic Development Board (EDB) highlighting 80 of world’s best tech firms have operations in the Lion City.

For some organisations, recruiting new tech professionals from closer to home is also not a viable option. Fast-growing tech firms in Singapore have failed to find skilled IT professionals to support their digital transformation effort, ultimately forcing them to import new talent.

Finding the right people to fill the skills gap shouldn’t prove a difficult task if a business knows where to look.

In a recent survey, 53 per cent of respondents said they would consider relocating to another city or country to have a more fulfilling work life, with a percentage of those citing a new challenge as a reason to change roles.

Businesses may have to restructure benefits and retention packages to secure the services of imported talent, with 66 per cent of respondents from the same report stating a laptop tops their list of priorities.

In the same survey, 24 per cent favoured certification vouchers, while 23 per cent listed training as a primary factor.

Partnering with recruitment companies is also a method that businesses can use to find IT professionals to fill the gaps appearing in their development and technology teams. Finding people with transferable skills can open a brand new search radius to find the perfect hire.

The ever-expanding skills shortage will continue to be a concern for many businesses operating within the technology sector and requires the effort of an entire organisation if they are to handle the introduction of future technology that can cause further disruption.

The future looks bright for those striving towards a better future of reducing the skills gap. By attracting and retaining the best talent available, it should help your business grow and choose its staffing priorities.

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Image Credits: sira jantararungsan

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