Should I Be Thinking About IT Training In A Recession?
It’s no surprise that many people are frightened of doing anything right now. Almost every piece of information we get from the media seems to be another dash to our hopes and dreams - and our input of daily doom and gloom keeps the vicious circle spinning. Small wonder that confusion reigns, and we’re not sure whether we should risk doing something new, or just hang in tight until 2012!
Why it’s exactly the right time for IT Training…
Recessions come and go, and whilst inevitably a lot of folks take a hit during a downturn, many others also thrive by doing the right thing at the right time. But what exactly is the right thing, and when is the right time to start it? Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but too late to be of any use to those who wish to benefit from it!
What we can say is look at the facts, steer clear of the obvious losers, and pro-actively prepare for the up-turn, for it will surely arrive, just as spring bursts forth after winter. You then will be hailed as one of those ‘lucky ones’ who successfully weathered the storm.
Doing nothing won’t put off the inevitable. Many industries are already suffering badly (take the car industry for example), and we live in a very inter-dependent society. What affects one sector of the economy today, has bounced over to another tomorrow.
Even prior to the recession hitting, we knew really that many traditional industries in the UK were doomed, as overseas manufacturing can be done so much more cheaply. But the one thing that ALL areas of our public and private sector are desperate for is more commercially qualified and skilled IT workers.
A Relevant Point: People with professional IT qualifications can work in ANY industry.
Very few market sectors need driving instructors, plumbers or electricians, but every sector needs PC support, web designers and network administrators etc. The need is industry wide - there are presently over one million core IT jobs in Britain as a whole, but around a quarter of those are not filled. So even with the certain cut-backs that some industries are temporarily making, that still leaves huge numbers of jobs available for trained and certified professionals.
IT jobs have seen a 4.5% - 5.5% average growth since 1998, which is approximately 55,000 potential new jobs every year. Because businesses are becoming even more dependent on computer systems, government predictions are that by 2012, vacancies in IT positions will have increased to around 500,000.
Recession or no recession, there isn’t a way forward for the country’s economy without massive numbers of people training to fill those vacancies. Will you be thought one of the ‘lucky ones’?