The rising growth of UK technology is being threatened by a skills crisis, the latest Harvey Nash Group Digital Leadership Report has found.

The research surveyed 2,100 digital leaders, including 823 based in the UK.

According to the study, four in 10 digital leaders in the UK admit they can’t keep key people as long as they would like, as they’re being lured away by the offer of more money.

A further two-thirds – 66 per cent – said they are now unable to keep pace with change because of a dearth of the talent they need.

Only 1 in 3 organisations - 38 per cent - have redesigned their employee offer to make it attractive to staff in the new hybrid working world.

The report also found record tech investment and headcount – rising by over a third – 36 per cent and 37 per cent respectively, since 2020.

The report found that cyber security is the most sought after tech skill in the UK with 43 per cent indicating a shortage, up by over a third in the past 12 months, followed by big data/analysts at 36 per cent, and technical architects at 33 per cent.

The shortage of developers - 32 per cent - which has been identified amongst the three jobs with the worst skills shortages in the UK behind HGV drivers and nurses, saw the biggest increase compared with previous years. Harvey Nash Group said that this shortage correlates with the report’s finding that companies are focusing on creating new products and services, and therefore need developers to do this work.

“With businesses planning record levels of digital investment, we could be standing on the verge of a ‘second renaissance’ for technology,” said Bev White, chief executive, Harvey Nash Group. “Organisations are looking to push their digital transformations further and faster than ever before, putting technology at the very heart of how they operate.

“This will take them beyond being merely ‘tech-centric’: technology will literally be dispersed throughout the business, everywhere.”

But White warned that these ambitions are coming under threat from acute skills shortages that are “now worse than ever before.”

“In fact, businesses face a triple whammy," added the chief executive. "They lack the supply of skilled resource they need; they have not yet evolved a new and effective employee proposition for the hybrid working world; and the skills they need are themselves changing as technology develops at pace. Digital leaders need to rapidly assess their needs and find solutions if their plans are not to be derailed by this potent cocktail of challenges.”

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