Tip 1
Sign up to the Employers' Charter
"Employers have shown their commitment to addressing the IT skills shortage by signing up to the e-skills Employers Charter. Those that have already signed have found that they have opened doors to working in partnership with other employers and organisations that are giving them a leading edge."
Astrid Flowers, Broadening Recruitment Project Manager, e-skills NTO
Employers of IT professionals are finding it impossible to fill vacancies. They advertise, pay recruitment agencies substantial sums of money and keep increasing salaries yet 10% of posts are still vacant. A study for the Government at the end of 1999, headed by Alan Stevens (then of EDS), highlighted that this was not a single issue problem: there were many contributing strands. These ranged from the image of IT careers, to the recruitment practices of employers and the lack of work experience.
The IT skills shortage is not something that can be overcome by one employer working in isolation. It needs collective action. At the same time the Government is not in a position to tell employers how to recruit or to tell the workforce to consider a career in IT. The only possible solution is for employers of IT professionals, across all sectors, to work together to solve the problem.
The Charter is not meant as a stick to beat companies with. It does not have any legal basis and no sanctions will be imposed on companies for non-compliance. The e-skills Employers Charter is a public record of commitment from employers of IT professionals, they agree to take action in a number of specified ways, to work together, with the e-skills NTO, to address the skills shortages. Companies that sign the Charter tend to be those that are leaders in the field of recruitment and retention. They are already actively considering the problem and are looking at ways to deal with it. These companies are now sharing some of their ideas in order to make a greater impact.
Since its launch in March, action by employers to meet the Charter objectives has varied according to the type and size of the business and that the region they are in. Most of the Charter companies have been, or will be, used to consider and publicise what works in recruitment. It is Charter companies that have come together and identified the 12 steps to recruitment.
The Charter brings together strategic thinking and action to address the problem of the IT skills shortage.
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