London startups suffering from shortage in tech talent

Considered Europe’s ‘digital capital’ London is home to more than 187,000 tech companies, and this is largely driven by startups, as it is reported a new tech business is formed almost every hour in the city.

But this latest challenge could be seen a major hold-back for new tech startups. The research was conducted on over 100 founders of tech startups from London and astoundingly over a third believed there is a significant shortage of skilled workers in the tech industry. Additionally 30% of these founders consider their growth to have been hindered due to not being able to employ the correct staff.

It isn’t just the skill that seems to be a problem, with 39% of the founders saw it hard to hire employees with the correct mind-set and work ethics for the jobs. Whereas some startups have stated that UK immigration and visa laws have proven to be a difficulty for them.

Dominic Pollard, Director of City Road Communications, commented on the findings: “The exponential growth in the number of tech startups emerging across London has made competition for talent extremely high. In particular, the shortage of people who have the right skills and, importantly, work ethic to join fast-growing tech businesses has become a cause for concern – it is clearly something that the public and private sectors must come together to try and address in the coming years.”  

Ritam Gandhi, Founder and Director of Studio Graphene, added: “Today, London’s startups face a choice when looking to access the technical skills they need: do they hire or outsource? The answer will depend on the size, culture and finances of each business, but it is vital that entrepreneurs consider both options to find the most practical, efficient and cost effective solution to help their company grow.”