By Ed Jessamine, founding director of Leamington-based IT recruitment specialist TLG UK
The consequences of this winter’s big freeze were all too predictable.

At the first flurry of snow, Britain’s transport system slithered to a halt.  It took just a few days for the first reports to appear of dwindling stocks of grit and salt at local authority depots across the country closely followed by the suspension of domestic refuse collections and dark thoughts about the knock-on effects to council tax.  And, when the January snows had finally melted, we were left to navigate our way to work along roads pitted by a million teeth-juddering, suspension-wrecking pot holes.

The economic big freeze has left similar scars on the nation’s infrastructure.  It is now all too apparent that compared to other countries, we did not have in place enough reserves – either in human or physical collateral - to tackle emergency conditions and keep the wheels turning.  We are left with an infrastructure that is severely cracked and in need of repair.
Thaw January’s employment figures came as the latest sign that the worst of the freeze is now over and the thaw has begun.  The seasonally adjusted unemployment count for the West Midlands region fell by 3,804 to 180,500 – a small step in the right direction.

However, not only will the thaw be a lengthy process but we are also likely to uncover some pretty unpleasant surprises over the next few months. 

e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology, estimates that the UK will need more than 140,000 new IT and telecoms professionals each year for the next five years. Only one in five of these new recruits are expected to come directly from education because the plain fact is we are still unable to attract sufficient numbers of young people to study cpSTEM (Computer and Physical Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects.

The real life effect is that there remain long-term skills shortages in key disciplines – notably staff with experience and qualifications in web application development specialising in PHP and .NET framework.  In TLG’s own area of expertise – the IT recruitment market – we know that this skills gap is already hampering the development of regional enterprises.

We have a range of West Midlands clients - particularly in e-commerce and new media – whose eager attempts to recruit are frustrated by a lack of available talent.   It is not in the least surprising that individuals who have this skill set and who are already in jobs are currently reluctant to contemplate any risk by moving on.   These are skills gaps that cannot be filled without long term investment in education, training and development.
We recognise that many companies across all sectors have down-sized to enable them to survive the crisis.  The danger is that the cupboard is now bare and that the human resource needed to take advantage of the recovery is no longer in place.

Our advice is that it is now time to carry out a thorough re-evaluation of personnel.  The key questions are:

• Can we afford to make do with existing resource?
• What short-term savings threaten long-term damage – both in staff retention and the recruitment of new talent?
• What skills are now looking threadbare and need to be mended through re-training?
• What new skills need to be introduced?  This part of the evaluation process is particularly important because gearing up for future demand should not simply mean replacing like for like.

Reality check
Accurately forecasting the weather or economic climate is a tricky business.  There is a legend within the BBC concerning efforts to improve the accuracy of weather reports supplied to Midlands’ TV viewers. The story goes that relying on satellite photography and the rest of Met Office technology was not enough.   The decision was taken that before forecasts were broadcast one final check should be made – it was to open the smoked-glass windows of the much-lamented Pebble Mill studios and take a look at the sky outside.  In that way, inaccurate predictions for bright sunshine, for example, could be avoided when, in reality, it was tipping it down.
Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt here.  In the run up to the General Election, we will all face a torrent of economic forecast.  We need our own reality check in place before we reach for the sunglasses.

Ed works for TLG UK, a specialist IT recruitment company which provides:

• Temporary, fixed contract and permanent recruitment in the commercial and IT sectors
• Executive searches to board level
• Managed teams
• Competency-based interviews
• Technical and psychometric testing of candidates
• Copywriting for advertisements
• Strategic advice and support

Further details can be found at www.tlguk.com or on 01926 887314 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it