UK 'faces' internet skills gap

The UK is facing an internet skills shortage

The UK faces an internet skills shortage, which could scupper its ambition to be a world leader in the digital economy, a new report suggests.

The UK will be Europe's biggest internet employer by 2003 but the internet skills gaps means that up to 80,000 vacancies will be left unfilled.

About half of the IT directors surveyed said labour shortages were already delaying and threatening e-commerce projects in the UK.

"The threat of such wide-scale shortages, within three years, is one of the most alarming findings of the report," said Janice Hughes, co-author of the report. The report - carried out by Spectrum Strategy Consultants on behalf of Andersen Consulting - looks at the internet's impact on the economy and labour markets across Europe.

Less red tape

Almost all of the survey's respondents said it was already difficult to find qualified employees with competition for recruits reaching "fever pitch."

They also said Europe was heading for a US style job shortages where "it is virtually impossible to recruit technical staff due to a hyper competitive employment market."

Internet experts called for less red tape as this could hamper the growth of the internet industry throughout Europe.

They also said more needed to be done to promote the internet in schools and colleges to ensure future generations of internet savvy employees.

"There are places were the local authorities don't do enough to promote computers in schools - it will end up leading to a huge skills shortage," said Ian Water, UK managing partner at Andersen Consulting.