With 78% of IT workers stating that the growth and success of their organisation is fundamentally reliant on themselves or their team, new EMC study reveals that UK businesses risk losing their best IT talent

‘The Great Skills Exodus' report, based on research of 500 IT and cybersecurity workers in the UK and Ireland, reveals that 71% have looked for a job elsewhere, with almost half (49%) highlighting restrictions on career progression as a key driver. Across many industries the report also highlighted that a lack of career progression outweighed a poor pay package as the priority for considering alternative roles. This potential staff churn significantly threatens the growth of UK firms as they increasingly focus on technology to compete and innovate.

The study reveals the key factors driving IT workers to actively look outside of their current organisation for a new role. Company culture is highlighted as a barrier for many, with 26 percent sighting their organisation as unwilling to change the way that ‘things have always been done', 23 percent revealing a lack of understanding of IT's role, and nearly a third (30 percent) stating that there are few opportunities to demonstrate their ability.

The study also revealed that people managers in the industry are fully aware of the factors driving their team members to leave yet seem unable or unwilling to negotiate changes needed to address the growing problem. UK businesses risk falling behind in the innovation race, resulting in a loss of market share to more agile and disruptive firms, if they fail to provide fulfilling careers for their IT teams and incorporate them into the wider business team and strategy.

Ross Fraser, UK and Ireland country manager at EMC comments, "Organisations across the UK of all sizes are focused on tackling the opportunities and threats in their markets, brought on by new technologies. The expectations of the information generation in our workforce that tools in the workplace reflect the ease of use, availability and innovation experienced in our personal lives create further challenges for businesses in delivering the right opportunities for employees. The good news is that, through working closely together, both the business and employee objectives can be achieved."

The research also revealed that half of respondents aspire to work at large IT firms like EMC, with 41 percent wanting to work at digital organisations like Facebook, and just a third (32 percent) at more disruptive companies such as Uber and other new start-ups.

Fraser continues, "Technology is at the heart of business transformation and the IT team is ideally placed to help any organisation navigate new opportunities and threats in the market. With employment of IT professionals forecast to grow at 1.62 percent per year by 2020, businesses must ensure that they offer the most compelling career opportunities in order to retain the best staff, or risk losing as many as three quarters of their IT team in the coming months - something which would have a hugely detrimental impact on any organisation. With a vast number of organisations searching for skilled IT staff, the vacancies for them to move to are plentiful, so I would urge businesses to review their options and the opportunities they can offer their teams, now."

Simon Hansford, CEO at Skyscape Cloud Services comments, "As a company that has seen exponential growth in a relatively short amount of time, our team is continually focused on creating rewarding careers and opportunities for top IT talent.  As well as strong academic and technical expertise and experience, we've seen employees thrive in agile and fast paced

environments that foster innovation. EMC's report proves it's a fundamental necessity within business to invest in our people, providing them with adequate training programmes and fostering growth in STEM careers."

Additional Research Findings

  • 78% of IT workers state that the growth and success of their organisation is fundamentally reliant on themselves or their team
  • A fifth (19%) state that their organisation focuses to a great extent on innovation
  • Respondents in the professional services (84%) and manufacturing (83%) sectors are the most likely to consider new roles
  • IT roles in the manufacturing (47%) sector are more likely to lack career progression opportunities and it is driving people to leave - above pay. Interestingly, this sector also rated the highest in terms of growth and success being fundamentally reliant on technology
  • Almost a quarter (24%) of managers in the IT and telecoms sector say their employees will leave a company due to restrictions on implementing new technologies