Lack of IT skills crippling UK productivity

Added by The Editor, about 1 month ago.

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Some 13.25 million hours of productive working are lost each week by UK organisations as a result of poor IT skills, according to recent research by vocational qualifications body, City & Guilds. That's 2.5 hours per worker spent dealing with other people's IT traumas.

This may be down to a "make do" attitude when it comes to everyday IT issues, because the research also shows that 59% of employers rely on self-trained staff to sort out day-to-day computer snags. The result of that is clear: those with a little technical 'know-how' spend much of their time assisting less IT-literate colleagues and less time on the duties and responsibilities contained in their formal job description.

Over a third (35%) of workers have failed to get a job done on time due to a lack of IT knowledge and trained support, says City & Guilds, with more than half (54%) trying to fix problems by themselves, "often doing more harm than good". One in 20, meanwhile, even leave their desk when there is an IT problem, in the hope that it will have 'gone away' by the time they return.

For these reasons, Ken Gaines, City & Guilds' product manager for IT user qualifications is urging employers to support the development of IT skills in the workforce. According to Sector Skills Council E-skills, around 7.6 million people in the UK need to increase their IT skills to address current needs and changing employer demand over the next three years.