There are currently 100k vacancies in the digital and technology sector every month, according to industry body, techUK.
That has been the focus for leaders attending Manchester Tech Week 2022.
“It used to be that technology was a competitive advantage because only a small number of people had a good understanding of it,” Jaz Chana, Cinch’s Technology Director told delegates.
“It’s ubiquitous now for every company, everyone is on the same stage. Technology is an equaliser, not a differentiator. Speed is your only real competitive advantage”.
Meanwhile, Katie Gallagher, Managing Director at Manchester Digital, who’s just been selected to chair the UK Tech Cluster Group added:
“This year is particularly interesting because we are dealing with the normal talent shortage as well as the pent-up demand post-COVID. There has been a massive drive through digital transformation, so the types of companies we work with have completely changed, it’s not just digital and tech companies – most companies now have a tech or digital capability.”
Former Manchester United and England footballer, and now entrepreneur, Gary Neville said he believed that digital inclusion was critical at school.
“The use of social media should be a subject at school. Start to pull modern technologies into the curriculum so it adapts to one that really focuses on the jobs that are available in 2022.”
He added that re-skilling was also important to meet demand:
“We have a thriving tech sector in Manchester, but we have got a huge skill shortage. We need to retrain a lot of the over 40s to get them aligned with the jobs that are available.
“Whether it be in tech, crypto or blockchain and all the different areas that are going to come to the fore in the next five to ten years. We’ve got a huge retraining exercise to do.”
Manchester Tech Week is run by Imago Techmedia.
