Employers collaborate to boost tech skills in Tech Week 2016

Scores of events are set to take place across the country, taking learning outside the classroom, and providing insights into the rewards of digital jobs. The events form part of a nationwide initiative from Tech Partnership employers, Tech Week 2016, which runs from 4th-8th July, 2016.

Leading employers including Amazon Web Services, BT, Asda, TCS, National Grid and the Ministry of Defence are among those hosting events, which range from open office days, to hackathons and cyber security workshops.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is opening 7 of its UK offices, including Bracknell, Bristol, Newcastle and Erskine, to students for a day of interactive digital demos, workshops and IT games. The organisation hopes to reach more than 450 students through this and a variety of other Tech Week activities.

Helen May, UKI Strategy & Operations Manager at HPE, says: “We’re delighted to be working with other employers on this initiative. Across the tech sector, there’s a real need to show young people, especially girls, the great opportunities in digital careers. By welcoming students into our offices, we can show them that tech professionals do rewarding and creative work in stimulating environments. We’re aiming to inspire young people to maintain their tech learning, so they have the chance to develop in-demand skills and access these exciting careers.”

1.5m people currently work in tech roles, but demand for qualified tech specialists continues to outweigh supply, with over 50% of businesses reporting tech skills gaps in their workforce.

Increasingly, employers have seen the importance of collaborating to improve the UK’s tech skills base, hosting and sponsoring a range of initiatives.

Martha Jennings, Starting Out Manager at Sky, said she was delighted to see so many employers working together to engage young people in tech. ““There are so many exciting career opportunities in the digital and tech industry as a whole, and there’s no better place to start out than at Sky. During Tech Week, we’ll be opening our doors to young people across the UK, and we’re really looking forward to showing them what’s possible.”

Digital entrepreneur Sherry Coutu CBE, chair of Founders4Schools, is lending the organisation’s support to the Tech Week initiative. “Founders4Schools links business people with schools so they can share their expertise and enthusiasm,” she says. “If tech professionals sign up to be TechFuture Ambassadors, we can pair them right away with schools that have already requested a visit. That’s an immediate and straightforward way to make a contribution to Tech Week.”

The week-long event also marks the start of the Tech Partnership’s My Tech Future gender campaign, which highlights the benefits of tech careers to girls.

Just 17% of tech specialists are women, a number which has remained largely unchanged for over a decade. Employers are keen to encourage more women into tech to widen the UK’s tech talent pool talent pool and ensure women don’t miss out on rewarding tech careers.

“The employer events in Tech Week reflect companies’ real engagement in digital skills issues,” says Karen Price OBE, CEO of the Tech Partnership. “Increasing the UK’s digital skills base, and equipping young people with the skills to forge rewarding careers, benefits individuals, organisations and the economy as a whole. It is a wonderful example of what employers can achieve through concerted action.”