The digital draft: How channel partners are fighting the skills shortage through schools and apprenticeships

The IT skills gap remains a persistent problem in the channel. How are these four partners combating this issue and attracting new people to their companies?

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Top row: Hayley Mooney and James Napp. Bottom row: Tim Ward and Dave Birchall

Partners are finding success with apprenticeship schemes and “demystifying the workplace” in an effort to expand the pool of channel talent.

Recent research from The Prince’s Trust warned of a digital skills crisis as over a third (37 per cent) of young people in the UK report not studying a digital or tech subject beyond Key Stage 3.

Its annual Decoding The Digital Skills Gap report, in collaboration with Solutions Research and supported by Cognizant found that 42 per cent do not think digital skills will be essential to their career.

A digital skills gap costs the UK economy as much as £63bn a year in potential GDP, according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.

Moreover, young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) are at a greater disadvantage.

CRN recently canvassed four resellers to hear how they are combating a drop in IT sector graduates through recruitment strategies.

Here we find out how channel partners are reaching out to an even younger generation to expand the workforce.

Hayley Mooney, CCO, and Clare Wicks, career pathway manager, Bytes

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Do you have an apprenticeship scheme? Could you talk about the impact or share any success around this?

Wicks: “Bytes has been successful nurturing apprentices we recruited into the company over the last four years, with success in the finance & IT departments.

“We have five successful apprentices who have completed the Level 3 Information Communication Technician – Azure Cloud Support Specialist qualification and continued their careers at Bytes in the IT team.

“In the finance team, one person has completed their Level 3 AAT and gone on to begin the Level 4 qualification, and we have two more approaching the end of their Level 3 AAT qualification.

“Recruiting apprentices into these teams is the answer to creating a culture of home-grown excellence, developing a skilled and competent workforce, and fostering a culture of professional growth and personal development opportunities for all.

“We are also using apprenticeships to skill existing employees in their area of expertise, utilising the L&D Consultant Level 5, Business Analyst Level 4, and Level 6 DTS apprenticeships, all with great success so far.”

Do you do any outreach to school-aged students to study an IT-related degree at university or take up a tech apprenticeship?

Wicks: “In the last 12-months we have been working with local schools to participate in careers fairs, National Apprenticeship/Careers week events, and we are developing workshops and Q&A sessions to take into schools and colleges to help set Bytes up as an employer of choice for apprenticeships.”

Mooney: “Bytes work with local schools, as do many of us in the channel. Typically, this includes career evenings, ‘world of work’ sessions, work experience and so on.

“It’s brilliant that we are all taking a local approach, but to drive real change, we need to think more broadly.

“Connecting back to the Digital Skills Report, we must work hard, as a collective, to collaborate with education, government, charities and employers, to become a platform of voices with a standardised approach, makes it easy for young people to know what the tech channel is, how to get into it, and to show them how they can have a creative, progressive, flexible and financially-secure career for the future, whether that be with a degree or not – it doesn’t matter.”

Dave Birchall, chief people officer, Node4

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Do you have an apprenticeship scheme? Could you talk about the impact or share any success around this?

“We have an emerging talent programme that has three streams for people coming into the business.

“One is our apprenticeships programme aimed at school leavers.

“We have a specific graduate scheme where you need to have studied a STEM subject.

“And finally, we have what we call a ‘for everyone’ pathway.

“The graduates and ‘for everyone’ programmes are both into our digital side of the business, which is business apps, and then all your applications, professional services and consulting services.

“The ‘for everyone’ pathway is designed for people who don’t have qualifications, whether they are retired from the forces, someone looking for a career change or returning mums, and they go through a similar 12-week programme.”

Do you do any outreach to school-aged students to study an IT-related degree at university or take up a tech apprenticeship?

“We offer work experience and get a lot of GCSE level students in.

“We also partner with apprenticeship providers who reach out to schools and colleges on our behalf.

“One thing I’m really excited about is we've partnered with an organisation called The Early Careers Foundation. They work with A Level students who come from socially underprivileged backgrounds, and partner with organisations like us to mentor these students.

“Around 28 people in our business have signed up to be mentors and we will have monthly meetings with these students to help them with career development, progression support, career advice, CV writing etc with a view to helping them into careers and industries that they might not typically expect to have access to.”

Tim Ward, co-founder, director, business development at SEP2

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Do you have an apprenticeship scheme? Could you talk about the impact or share any success around this?

“Since launching our apprenticeship scheme we’ve been proud to support many staff members through this route. This scheme is not just limited to those within a technical role but also marketing, sales, and HR.

“We have a culture of empowering our apprentices and ensuring they feel fully integrated with the business while gaining hands-on experience throughout their apprenticeship.

“Many of our apprentices have progressed and are now full-time employees ranging from cybersecurity engineers, junior account executives and business development managers.

“We relish the diversity our apprentices bring to SEP2 and the fresh perspectives they offer.

“One of our apprentices came up with our SEP2 Cyber Schools programme, inviting students from local schools and colleges into the SEP2 office and showing them a day in the life of a cybersecurity professional.

“We are proud that our apprentices are being recognised externally too, with our former apprentice, now BDM, Mathew Hunter being nominated for a CRN Rising Star Award 2024.”

Do you do any outreach to school-aged students to study an IT-related degree at university or take up a tech apprenticeship?

“Our own SEP2 Cyber School programme encourages those just starting out their career to consider a move into cybersecurity.

“We run attack, defend and analyse pods, showing a real insight to the industry and what we do daily. This allows students to get exposure to the tasks which our staff are involved in and how they are ‘beating the bad guys’.

“We have noticed during our recruitment activities that cybersecurity degree courses can be wide-ranging and offer an overview rather than the specific knowledge that we look for.

“To address this, we have now partnered a local Further Education College with one of our leading cybersecurity vendors. The result is that their teaching staff are now being specifically trained to deliver real-world, industry-specific qualifications.”

James Napp, managing director, Bechtle UK

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Do you have an apprenticeship scheme? Could you talk about the impact or share any success around this?

“Yes, we do and have seen apprentices progress across different areas of the business, not just sales.

“Again, patience is required, but it’s very rewarding to watch people grow in confidence and the role as they move through the business.”

Do you do any outreach to school-aged students to study an IT-related degree at university or take up a tech apprenticeship?

“We do a lot of work with local schools and colleges to help build a bridge from education into the workplace.

“Talks in schools, careers fairs, work experience and open days at Bechtle UK premises all help to give young people a real insight into the world of work and the IT industry.

“You don’t know what you don’t know, so we try to break down barriers and demystify the workplace.”