The digital skills gap
The digital skills gap
The digital skills gap has been a hot topic in recent years, with talent pools struggling to keep pace with the rapid uptake of cloud technologies
The digital skills gap
The digital skills gap has been a hot topic in recent years, with talent pools struggling to keep pace with the rapid uptake of cloud technologies
When it comes to AWS, the story unfortunately is no different: the demand for AWS solutions continues to grow at a rapid pace, far surpassing the rate at which qualified talent can be created. But there isn’t one root cause of this problem. From inadequate education and poor communication around opportunities in tech to a lack of diversity and inclusion across the industry, the digital skills gap is the result of a domino effect of smaller issues that have failed to be addressed year after year.
The industry has finally woken up to this fact, albeit out of necessity more than choice, with organizations recognizing their shared responsibility for bridging the skills gap and the mutual benefit it brings industry wide. So with AWS, its partners, and community organizations alike starting to do their part, are we finally taking steps in the right direction? Read on to find out more.
Does an IT skills gap exist in the AWS community?
Currently, 70% of hiring managers (down slightly from 71% in our previous survey) acknowledge the existence of an IT skills gap within the AWS community. Of those respondents, 43% indicate that the skills gap has increased in the past 12 months, a decline from 55% in our previous study, showing some progress on the skills gap front, but there is still work to be done.
Does an IT skills gap exist in the AWS community?
Yes, there is a skills gap
No, there is no skills gap
Not sure
Currently, 70% of hiring managers (down slightly from 71% in our previous survey) acknowledge the existence of an IT skills gap within the AWS community. Of those respondents, 43% indicate that the skills gap has increased in the past 12 months, a decline from 55% in our previous study, showing some progress on the skills gap front, but there is still work to be done.
What is your organization’s biggest challenge in closing the digital skills gap?
Among those who believe there is an IT skills gap, 45% highlight the time taken to find talent as the main challenge in bridging the skills gap in their organization—this was also the main issue reported in our previous survey.
To what extent is the skills gap affecting organizations’ strategic objectives?
To what extent is the skills gap affecting organizations’ strategic objectives?
29%
Significantly
6%
Minorly
1%
Insignificantly
How is the skills gap impacting on strategic objectives?
How is the skills gap impacting on
strategic objectives?
| Increased workload of current staff | 39% |
| Less growth than expected | 33% |
| Increased costs due to hiring contractors | 33% |
| Increased turnover (e.g., as a result of employee burnout or losing staff to competitors) | 29% |
| Decreased profitability | 27% |
| Difficulty keeping up with demand for services | 27% |
| Missing project deadlines | 22% |
How are organizations looking to address the skills gap?
Conclusion
With a minor decline in the number of respondents reporting a skills gap and a larger decline in respondents reporting a skills gap that has widened in the past 12 months, our data shows slow and steady progress in the right direction. Yet while this may sound like good news at face value, there’s clearly still significant work to be done—45% still report that finding the right talent is time consuming, which has actually increased from 44% in 2023.
Interestingly, there was a notable rise in respondents reporting that technology innovation is outpacing skills development (44%, up from 35% last year), no doubt highlighting the role AI and ML advancements are already playing in exasperating the skills gap further.
So, what can be done? It’s encouraging to see over half (52%) of respondents building skills in-house to overcome some of the impact the skills gap is having on organizations’ strategic objectives, but with organizations reporting an increased workload for staff (39%) as the main consequence of the skills gap, it’s important to pair this approach with more immediate solutions. Fail to do so and not only will internal skills gap take longer to breach, but the knock-on effects will also lead to higher attrition, creating even more hurdles for you to overcome.
Need help finding the right skills for your AWS team?
Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables allow you to compare your salary or benchmark your teams’ salaries no matter their role in the AWS ecosystem.
Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables allow you to compare your salary or benchmark your teams’ salaries no matter their role in the AWS ecosystem.
Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables allow you to compare your salary or benchmark your teams’ salaries no matter their role in the AWS ecosystem.
