Mortimer Spinks and Computer Weekly release ground breaking technology industry survey
Mortimer Spinks, the UK's leading innovator in technology recruitment and Computer Weekly, release a major new report giving a fascinating insight into the current, and future state, of the technology department and technology industry.
More than 650 technology professionals from a wide range of seniority, age, gender and sectors took part and offered their insights on technology issues ranging from careers, to hot skills, to 'cool' tech brands and to how to retain the best staff.
To immediately download a full copy of the report please complete this (very) short form
Here are just a few of the surprising facts:
- 80% of people feel they are more likely to progress their careers by leaving their current employers
- Technology people, unlike the general public or the stock market, prefer Microsoft to Apple
- The majority of Gen Y people thought hacking organisations were "good for the world".
- The majority of Baby Boomers felt the opposite.
- CIOs like the idea of letting users buy their own IT kit. Helpdesk are horrified by it!
Key Insights from the Report
What does the average IT person look like?
Aged 41 he – and the average technology professional is most definitely male – is earning somewhere between £30,000 and £40,000. He's happy with his job, but would entertain a call from headhunter, especially as changing jobs appears to be the only way for career advancement. He's vaguely threatened by outsourcing, but not losing sleep over it. He's hard working, but manages to keep a decent work-life balance. He cares about money, but – much more - values challenging projects and interesting work colleagues over pay. He loves Google, but still has a soft spot for Microsoft.
What's hot for 2012?
The future is the cloud, followed quickly by mobile. People with skills in these areas will be at a premium.
The threat of jobs being outsourced
Almost one in five feel their jobs are threatened by offshoring. This goes up significantly for the more technical roles such as software / web development and engineering. That said plenty of people quoted examples of offshoring failing and jobs back in the UK being re-instated.
Technology professionals – a happy bunch
The effects of the recession on technologyprofessionals was severe. In 2008 – 2010 one in ten jobs in the technology space were lost, and almost half of technology teams lost close to one in five staff. Cost pressures, budget cuts, outsourcing, increasing business demands all add pressure. And yet, technology professionals are happy. 70% said they were either happy or very happy with their current job.
A mass exodus?
Technology professionals may be a happy bunch, but 'happy' doesn't, it seems, equate to 'loyal'. Almost 40% of participants are looking to be in a different job within 12 months; this rises to around two-thirds for the most technical roles. Even if we were to assume only half of those 40% are successful it still leaves one in five IT workers leaving their employer. That's a huge number of empty seats on projects, helpdesks or software development teams.
The challenge of retention
Why does happy not equate to 'loyal'? Perhaps the most shocking discovery from the survey is that more than 80% of people feel that they are more likely to progress their career by moving companies. Put simply, their present employers are simply not offering them the growth opportunities.
Click here to view blog, videos and pictures of our technology event.
An Outside opinion
Matt Ballantine who currently leads the Microsoft UK team responsible for marketing into UK technical audiences has posted on his blog, some of his thoughts on the technology survey.
