Written by Ann McGregor, CEO, NI Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Access to skills is one of the single biggest barriers to business growth across all industries in Northern Ireland, but the problem is particularly pertinent in the technology sector.
Innovative firms have created high value jobs in STEM industries, with attractive rewards and great potential, yet they have challenges filling the positions.
Companies consistently tell us that they need more people with degrees in subjects like engineering and technology. According to the 2019 Northern Ireland Skills Barometer, published by Ulster University and Department for the Economy, science and technology professionals will have the most job opportunities over the coming decade, with the number of roles growing by almost a third.
This is not just a problem for the future though – it’s a very real issue now. Responding to one of NI Chamber’s recent economic surveys, just under half of our members said that their business is currently experiencing a gap between the skills required for their business and the actual skills its employees possess. Over half said that there is a serious mismatch between the skills people have and actual job requirements, which is severely hampering business and economic growth across the province. The economic cost of skills shortages can be substantial and we know that the growth of Northern Ireland’s economy is going to become increasingly reliant on the knowledge economy, so the problem is a matter of urgency.
Women are undoubtedly vastly under-represented in the sector. Encouraging more females to study Engineering and Technology, Maths and Computer Science, as well as physical sciences and languages and subsequently supporting them to remain in this skills pipeline, could go a long way to solving those skills shortages.
In order to do so, the sector must tackle the perceived barriers to entry for females. Until such times, women will continue to miss out on job opportunities in a fast-growing sector and businesses will not benefit from their enormous potential.
Last year, CCEA reported that cultural stereotyping of computer users as ‘male, socially awkward and intense’ has led to a low number of girls in Northern Ireland studying computing. Jobs in these sectors are not for just ‘computer nerds’ – they should be considered a career path of choice for ambitious, intelligent and commercially minded young women and men. To achieve this, our young people must be introduced to peers and role models who they find both inspirational and relatable. There are many exceptional women and men leading the way already – as a business community, we need to make sure they are seen and heard by the next generation.
Business has a significant role to play in breaking these barriers down and I commend many of our members who have rolled our excellent initiatives already. For example, Deloitte’s BrightSpark apprenticeship programme has recently helped 17 women and men from a diverse range of backgrounds to obtain degrees from Ulster University and secure jobs with the firm.
If we’re to address the gap, we need to inspire young people not just at graduate level, but at primary and post-primary level too. Neueda’s Code Club is a great example of a local company doing just that. By helping primary school children to develop an interest, skills and confidence in coding at a young age, the company is inspiring the next generation of tech talent at the earliest possible opportunity.
Across all industries in Northern Ireland, there is a way to go to address the gender imbalance, which is evident from graduate, right up to boardroom level. Doing so must be a priority for policy makers, educators and business leaders. But we can’t do it alone - females can and must, stand up and be counted because the future of this economy relies on it.
This article first appeared in the Women in Tech special edition of the Sync NI magazine. You can download a FREE copy here.
