UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE PRESS RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2004
Few industries are more important for Britain's future economic prosperity than the Information Technology (IT) sector. It is also one of the industries with the youngest age profile in its workforce and also, surprisingly, remains male-dominated.
But with population trends showing far fewer young people entering the employment market in coming decades, the IT industry is going to have to make better use of its existing workforce when they get older. It will also have to recruit more widely among women and older workers, or face skill shortages which could see even more IT jobs and activities exported abroad.
This challenge, which poses questions for all developed economies, is the subject of an international study into the IT industry led in Europe by the University of Cambridge.
An initial study into employment trends in the British and European IT industry published by the University shows:
- Despite the recent global recession and dot.com crash, employment in the IT industry has grown strongly over the last decade.
- Though the IT workforce is getting older, it remains predominantly young. In the UK, for instance, the percentage of the total IT workforce aged 25 and 34 is nearly double that for the working population as a whole.
- Men dominate the IT industry with four times as many men as women employed in the UK, despite policy interventions and initiatives to improve gender diversity;
These findings could have serious implications for the future success of our IT industry, for the economy as a whole and for the affordability of pensions in the long-term.
The Cambridge study, headed up by Dr Kerry Platman, Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, and Dr Philip Taylor, Executive Director of the Cambridge Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Ageing (CIRCA), is part of a global research project called Workforce Ageing In The New Economy (WANE).
WANE is an international study of IT employment. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the project involves a consortium of academic researchers and industry partners in Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United States. The research is being undertaken in three phrases.
Despite the global down-turn of the IT industry in 2001-2002, the group's research shows that in all of the study countries, IT industries are doing well and are growing at a strong rate.
Although IT labour shortages have traditionally been handled through immigration, in the US, and increasingly in the other countries, IT work is being sent offshore to countries such as India and China. The UK is one of the largest markets for foreign companies which provide these 'off-shore' services.
Dr Platman, said:
"Information technology lies at the very heart of Europe's vision to be a world leading economy. European Union Member States have recognised that innovative IT solutions and advanced IT skills are essential if they are to compete in the global marketplace.
"Central to such a vision is a highly trained, entrepreneurial and indigenous workforce capable of exploiting the business opportunities of the 'new' information economy. This requires strategic investments now to counter the worryingly low levels of women in the industry, the impact of the recent IT down-turn and the need for lifelong learning for the whole workforce, irrespective of age."
Now that the summary report from phase one of the project has been completed, the team is looking for case studies for phase two. They are looking for IT companies to be involved in an industry project that may alter the shape of its workforce and sector as a whole over the coming decades.
Informed by all three phases of the research, the team will ultimately develop an integrated policy framework for governments, industries, and individuals regarding how to better manage life-long learning in new economies.
