• Swindon & Wiltshire Tech
• Tuesday June 25 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

SMEs struggling to hire the AI and digital apprentices they need – BCS

SMEs need financial support from the next government to train more apprentices with AI, cyber security and data skills, according to new research from Swindon-based BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

Digital apprentice numbers grew by 50 per cent last year – but smaller UK organisations are held back from hiring more because of bureaucracy and funding challenges, the report BCS found.

Two-thirds of businesses (66 per cent) think digital apprenticeships are effective in addressing digital skills gaps in England, according to the BCS study, which includes a YouGov poll.

But more than half (55 per cent) said better financial incentives for employers would make digital apprenticeships more attractive to them and prospective apprentices.

Government grants or tax breaks would be a ‘huge motivator’ to get more digital apprentices into small organisations, the BCS research revealed.

The five per cent ‘co-funding’ requirement for non-levy paying organisations to take on apprentices was also found to be a barrier – removing it would reduce the disproportionate impact on small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The Apprenticeship Levy should be protected, while also reforming those aspects that are not working, BCS added in its ‘Future of Digital Apprenticeships’ report.

For example In England, the Apprenticeship Levy underspend for 2022-23 meant that, since its UK-wide launch in 2017, £2.178 billion of apprenticeship funding was returned by the Department for Education to the Treasury.

Lucy Ireland, MD of learning and development at BCS, said: “Getting the digital apprentices we need over the next five years relies on convincing more SMEs to take them on, and they need both policy and financial support to do this.

“The next government has a generational opportunity to prevent significant digital skills shortages and drive forward technological innovation.

“Whilst universities are recruiting strongly to computing degrees, we need a diverse, inclusive range of pathways into the IT profession and the wider digital economy at all levels.

“That includes helping to re-skill the over 50s, who are also under-represented in tech jobs.”

Earlier this year BCS called for technologists working in a high-stakes AI roles to be licensed and required meet independent ethical standards.