I often hear the NatWest Business Development advert playing in the background whilst listening to the radio on my daily commute to work. Do you know the one? It discusses the various aspects of business that employers may struggle with, such as Accounting, Marketing, HR and the like. It got me thinking about recruitment in particular and finding the best suitable candidate for the job in hand. Whilst the advert primarily targets small businesses, hiring the right person or people may be something that larger businesses find issue with as well, especially if there aren’t many applicants with the requisite skills for the advertised role.
My thoughts were initially reinforced by a recent story from data magazine, DataIQ, that stated “70% of firms are braced for data skills shortages this year”. Evidence shows that companies are expected to face a shortage of skilled professionals over the next year at mid-management level, in such roles as data management, cyber security, and business information. 36% of employers believe that they will struggle to secure junior technology specialists. Why is this? Well, 24% of UK organisations feel as though Britain’s technology sector is either somewhat prepared or very unprepared to compete on the global stage. This uncertainty is a worrying notion as it makes us wonder how businesses are going to successfully operate if they don’t have staff with the sufficient qualifications and skills to match the required criteria.
Research provider and Totaljobs Director, Martin Talbot, expresses: “The technology sector boasts an incredible amount of exciting opportunities, which will continue for years to come, thanks to continued advancement in areas such as artificial intelligence.” Albeit this seems promising for businesses as it will allow them to experiment with a range of innovative technological advancements, he goes on to say that because of the progress in this sector, it may result in job candidates not having the capability to work alongside such advancements due to a lack of experience and subsequently the necessary skills.
Whilst this would prompt most businesses to provide training programmes for new and existing employees, the added cost has to be taken into consideration as well. This may be something that smaller businesses struggle with, especially if their turnover and revenue isn’t as high as other competitors. Therefore, this has the potential to have a negative impact on those businesses that don’t have a large cash flow.
That said, DataIQ have more recently revealed “Incoming data talent: a student perspective” which introduces data science student, Chris Storey, and explores his reasoning for embarking upon a post-graduate degree in spatial data science at UCL to looking for a job as a data scientist in logistics. Upon completing his undergraduate degree in the same subject, Chris worked in technical support helping to troubleshoot customers’ issues over the phone. However, he decided he wanted a more hands-on career where he could work on larger projects and observe their implementation. Deciding he needed some education to fill in the gaps of his knowledge and capabilities, he decided to return to university to study at masters level.
Having now completed the last module in his course he feels he has now vastly improved his data skills and no longer feels daunted by messy data sets. He stated: “I’m really enjoying being quite competent in being given a data set and being able quite quickly to dive in with some tools and gain some understanding about it.”
Whilst many companies may still be worried about their staff lacking data skills, it is refreshing to see that new talent is on the horizon. Who knows, this may be the beginning of the end for skills shortages if employers take the time to invest in young persons who could potentially bring a fresh insight into the technology sector. This will enable organisations to remain competitive with others.
Here at Hopewiser we strongly believe in young talent, and for many years now the company has hired school leavers and university graduates in order to provide them with credible industry experience across a variety of different areas. This also enables us to grow our business in new directions with fresh input from innovative employees. Funnily enough, we have three graduates starting next week and we’re very excited to see what they can bring to the team! If you take our advice, you will consider looking into the student market during your next recruitment phase. Remember, everyone has to start somewhere!
Referring back to businesses lacking data skills, Hopewiser offers a number of solutions to put your mind at rest and let you get back to hiring all those young data-driven individuals. Get further peace of mind with our high quality Data Cleansing service, which dedupes, verifies, and enhances your records to give you nice, neat, and compliant data sets. This means you won’t be worrying about whether you’re GDPR compliant or not. Wouldn’t that be a huge weight off your shoulders? We certainly think so.
More specifically, our new online Address Cleanse solution enables you to upload your files to our Portal service and get instant cleansing and suppressions on a pay as you go basis. We also offer installed solutions into your company software and CRM integrations, which can be tailored to suit your needs as a business.
In terms of data compilation, Address and Postcode Lookup is ideal for those organisations wanting to provide an address finder by postcode. You can use the web-based version that includes daily Postcode Address File (PAF) updates and the option to add data sets.
If you prefer an on-site solution then it is available as an installed product within various CRM systems. This means your customers will be able to access complete and accurate addresses at the touch of a button. Won’t that be a kick in the teeth for your competitors?
Get in touch today for all your data enquiries and to see how we can help you overcome any worries about shortages of data skills. With Hopewiser on board you needn’t ever worry again!
, updated 22nd February 2023.
