Do you employ entry level Tech Talent?
The UK’s Science and Technology Framework sets out a talent and skills vision, that the UK will have a large, varied base of skilled, technical and entrepreneurial talent which is agile and quickly responds to the needs of industry, academia and government. This includes talent in STEM, digital and data, commercialisation and national security. The Department for Education (DfE) is committed to working closely with industry and academia to ensure that the education system is producing the skills and talent needed in priority technology sectors.
As part of this commitment, the Digital and Computing Skills Education Taskforce (DCSET) was created earlier this year which brings together the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), DfE, industry representatives, academics and the British Society for Computing. This taskforce will report back to Cabinet through the National Science and Technology Council, early next year. It is developing actions to address barriers to students choosing to follow computing and digital pathways, and how we can better work with industry to encourage more young people and adults to enter these careers.
The Taskforce is seeking views from organisations regarding how they recruit to technology entry-level roles (such as software developers, programmers, data analysts, machine learning engineers, cyber security roles, etc.) and what skills and qualifications they are looking for. The Taskforce is primarily focused on government-funded qualifications in England but is also keen to hear views on digital qualifications provided through the private market.
The Taskforce wants to hear from you. Please use the link below to take part in a quick survey:
Entry Level Technology Roles Survey
This will take approximately 5 minutes to complete and will help inform how government and industry can work together to address barriers for entry-level tech talent.
The deadline for survey responses is Friday 3 November.
Jill Broom
Jill leads the techUK Cyber Security programme, having originally joined techUK in October 2020 as a Programme Manager for the Cyber and Central Government programmes. She is responsible for managing techUK's work across the cyber security ecosystem, bringing industry together with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors. Jill also provides the industry secretariat for the Cyber Growth Partnership, the industry and government conduit for supporting the growth of the sector. A key focus of her work is to strengthen the public–private partnership across cyber to support further development of UK cyber security and resilience policy.
Annie Collings
Annie is the Programme Manager for Cyber Resilience at techUK. She first joined as the Programme Manager for Cyber Security and Central Government in September 2023.