UK firms 'under-using IT skills'

News Article - 04 March 2008
Category:

Companies in Britain are under-utilising the IT skills of their employees, which has implications for business health.

A poll of 1,000 school leavers and graduates found that business performance and productivity could be significantly enhanced through the integration of workers' IT skills.

The survey by Loudhouse Research discovered that, while 82 per cent of school leavers and 84 per cent of graduates feel confident about their computer skills, just 51 per cent are using them in the workplace.

Tony Speakman, FileMaker regional manager for northern Europe, said: "Many businesses, particularly SMEs, are not aware of the level of skill employees have, but failure to make the most of the skills they have employed could put them at a competitive disadvantage to organisations that use technology skills effectively."

According to the report, commissioned by Filemaker, companies could improve their competitive edge by learning how to use IT skills and software to monitor business progress.

Businesses training employees to make the most of their accounting software and management reporting programmes could reap significant cost and efficiency benefits.

Article keywords:

---

More industry news

• Think tank warns UK may have already slipped back into recession
• Growing demand for HR staff in technology and international sectors
• Boosting business growth a ‘priority’ to avoid Eurozone slowdown
• HMRC launches alternative disputes pilot scheme this week
• December employment statistics disregard gloomy recruitment predictions
• Eurozone manufacturing PMI shows modest improvement
• UK scores highly for economic governance by ratings agency
• Government launches two-year project focusing on manufacturing sector
• Burden of regulation on UK businesses ‘too high’

Back to news home page »