~ Yet, only around two-fifths of London businesses are willing to spend more than £10,000 on recruitment and L&D for in-demand cybersecurity skills ~
New research from O’Reilly, the premier source for insight-driven learning on technology and business, has revealed that the majority (78%) of London-based companies, including those operating in the finance, retail/eCommerce and technology sectors, will increase spending on tech L&D over the next twelve months with the threat of recession looming.
The research – conducted in September 2022 by Censuswide, surveyed 300 HR decision makers in the finance, tech and eCommerce/retail industries (100 per industry), including 152 HR leaders based in London – revealed that 99% of HR leaders in London-based companies feel supported by their leadership team to invest in tech-related L&D, signalling the capital’s growing concern around the widening digital skills gaps.
Recruitment and L&D spend not aligned with skills most lacking
The research highlights that demand for digitally skilled workers within the UK’s capital is outgrowing the level of digital skills available. Almost a third (32%) of HR leaders at London-based companies reported that cybersecurity talent is the most in-demand digital skill, followed by software architecture (17%), data analysis (13%) and cloud (13%).
Despite this, only around two-fifths of companies within the capital are willing to spend more than £10,000 on recruitment (42%) and L&D (38%) to bolster cybersecurity talent in the next twelve months. Meanwhile, most London-based companies plan to spend no more than £10,000 on recruitment (60%) or L&D (69%) efforts for software architecture skills. Furthermore, companies in the capital plan to spend no more than £10,000 on recruitment (62%) or L&D (68%) to bolster cloud skills over the next twelve months.
Barriers to reducing the capital’s digital skills gap
Encouragingly, the majority (88%) of companies in London plan to spend between £25,000 – £50,000 on overall recruitment for skilled tech vacancies over the next twelve months. Yet only 79% will spend the same amount on tech-related L&D. Companies across the capital are planning to spend an average of £32,895 on overall recruitment for digital skills, compared to £31,727 on L&D.
More than a fifth (22%) of the capital’s HR leaders reported that insufficient resources is the biggest barrier to digitally upskilling employees, while also challenging a lack of internal buy-in (18%) and by lack of internal personnel (18%).
“With more than a third of Europe’s biggest tech companies based in London, the UK capital is a beacon of innovation and a leading contributor to the national economy, which will be vital as the UK deals with the effects of the looming recession.” says Alexia Pedersen, VP of EMEA at O’Reilly.
“What is clear is the potential for London to push further ahead as a global tech hub, following the Mayor of London’s trade mission to Silicon Valley to boost tech investment for the capital. Yet, our data suggests that companies across London still lack the technological skills they need to thrive. London business leaders must therefore put adequate investment and support behind the upskilling of digital talent, which will be vital to bolster innovation and remain at the forefront of their industries globally.”
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About the research
Research conducted by Censuswide in September 2022. Survey of 300 HR decision-makers within the technology, finance, ecommerce and retail industries (100 per industry), including 150 HR leaders based in London and excluding micro companies with less than 50 employees.
Featured Photo by Kevin Matos on Unsplash
