Node4's latest research report, "Unlocking Growth in the Mid-Market," highlights a persistent IT skills shortage affecting 93% of mid-market organisations. Over half of these firms acknowledge this shortage is significantly impacting operations.
The report identifies IT support and help desk roles as the most challenging positions to fill, closely followed by data scientists, analysts, DevOps, and software engineers.
Despite this crisis, 29% of mid-market business leaders are intent on reducing IT headcounts or enforcing hiring freezes due to economic pressures. Such decisions could potentially hinder growth and profit objectives, potentially inducing a wider productivity decline within the UK economy.
Encouragingly, over three-quarters of business leaders are actively addressing these shortages. Popular tactics include:
- Engaging external consultants or contractors (44%)
- Investing in upskilling and training (43%)
- Leveraging AI and automation (41%)
- Forming expanded partnerships with MSPs (39%)
Alarmingly, over 20% of these companies are not taking any remedial action.
The research highlights the magnitude of this issue, with nearly a third of leaders confirming the IT skills gap as a significant external factor shaping their IT strategies. Moreover, a quarter identifies access to skilled data professionals as their predominant challenge in forming data strategies.
Nevertheless, optimism remains high. Over three-quarters of mid-market leaders expect substantial progress in addressing these skill shortages within the upcoming year.
The findings strongly suggest that mid-market companies acknowledge skills deficiencies as fundamental barriers to achieving strategic goals, such as digital transformation, growth, and innovation. There's a clear understanding that talent acquisition isn't merely an HR problem, but a key enabler of overall business success.
