1. New Recruits : 1.2 Broadening Recruitment

Broadening recruitment:
A proposal to broaden recruitment to the ICT sector

This project will provide employers with access to support and advice about effective, practical recruitment, retention and training practices to help them employ staff from non-traditional groups.

ICT industries are undergoing dramatic growth, particularly in services and in the high-tech communications and software arenas, largely driven by the internet revolution. The rate of expansion in the UK is constrained by availability of suitable skills, with traditional recruitment approaches unable to meet demand.

Employers who have never previously recruited from non-traditional groups need confidence that such individuals can be integrated into the workforce quickly, and they need access to simple route-maps identifying practical approaches to successful recruitment, retention and training in this environment. In terms of graduate recruitment, a recent survey into employer attitudes showed that, while it is usual for many larger IT companies routinely to take non-IT students, only a quarter of the SMEs were recruiting in this way. However, evidence from SMEs who do recruit non-IT graduates shows that the reality can be in fact the opposite, if managed well. This project will consider broadening recruitment from a wide variety of backgrounds.

This project will draw on and spread good practice. Through this initiative, a consortium of the NTOs with primary responsibilities across the ICT arena, will work together to address the situation.

Contact : Astrid Flowers on or

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