‘Reform university curricula’ call as technician shortages loom

Doctoral training programmes and university curricula must be better aligned with industry needs to provide the extra 120,000 technical staff needed for the UK’s digital and technology sectors, a new report suggests.

Highlighting “widespread” and “persistent” technical skills shortages in one of the priority sectors identified by the UK government’s industrial strategy, a report by Frontier Economics urges universities to adapt degree courses and postgraduate training to respond to growing job opportunities in six key areas of the UK technology industry.

These include: advanced connectivity technologies (ACT), artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, engineering biology, quantum technologies and semiconductor industries.

Drawing on workforce data, vacancy rates for technical roles and projections on how each industry might grow over the next decade, the report finds current shortfalls in technical professionals in AI may rise from about 600 in 2025 to 38,700 in 2035, assuming a high-growth scenario for the AI industry.

Similarly skills shortages in quantum could result in a shortfall in technical staff of 20,700 by 2035, 18,900 in the semiconductor industry and 21,000 in cybersecurity, says the report published on 17 March.

Taken together, all six sectors could witness a shortfall of 120,000 technical skilled professionals by 2035 given optimistic projections of economic growth in these areas.

Alternative pathways for technical professionals should be investigated alongside improving higher education options to address the skills shortage, says the report which was commissioned by the UK Institute for Technical Skills & Strategy (UK ITSS).

Arguing there is a “mismatch between the skills taught at universities and those required in industry”, the report urges “collaboration between industry and universities” to address the shortfall such as increasing the number of industry-sponsored apprenticeships for university students and providing short courses in areas such as AI literacy.

In many sectors such as quantum and engineering biology where technical professionals often held postgraduate qualifications or a PhD, reforming doctoral training may also be required, says the report.

This might see firms in industry provide real-world datasets to Centres of Doctoral Training to help simulate industry-style analytical tasks for PhD students, says the report.

Kelly Vere, UK ITSS’ director, said the report identified “a critical and growing technical skills challenge across the UK’s Digital and Technologies sector – and it is one we must address collectively”.

“This is not a challenge any one organisation can solve alone. It will require collaboration across the system to build, support and sustain the technical workforce needed for the UK’s frontier industries,” she added.

Thomas Badger, principal at Frontier Economics, added the “persistent shortages in technical skills risk becoming a brake on continued growth” in digital and technology sectors.

“While government has elevated skills to the top of the policy agenda, our research shows there are still important gaps in the evidence about where shortages are most acute and how best to respond.

“We hope the evidence and insights presented here will help inform ongoing decisions by both policymakers and industry leaders and contribute to a continued evidence-based approach to skills policy.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com