IT contractors could find themselves struggling to win lucrative contracts and spending periods on the bench if they don’t quickly invest in acquiring mobile skills and experience.
This is according to a survey of technology professionals by jobs board CWJobs.co.uk, which warns that “in just three short years, all developers will need to have the skills and experience to deliver mobile projects to meet demand from businesses”.
Of the IT professionals surveyed by the jobs board, 73% said they would be keen to work on a mobile project and 53% believed that they “currently have the experience” to work on one.
Yet, despite over half of IT professionals believing they have mobile skills, an astonishing 60% admitted to actually never having worked on a mobile project. And only 52% have committed to skilling-up to enable them to work on mobile projects in future.
Furthermore, CWJobs.co.uk highlights that “UK companies are currently struggling to find candidates with the skills needed to deliver mobile projects”, and are “aspiring to hire proven mobile developers able to drive innovation in development and help the business to rival its competitors”.
This suggests that mobile development is a target-rich environment for canny IT contractors seeking a fast-growing market. But they will only be able to exploit the market’s skills shortages if they can quickly acquire the relevant skills and experience to inspire clients with confidence.
CWJobs.co.uk says that IT professionals without mobile expertise “build up skills and experience in their own time so that they can demonstrate the ability to develop mobile apps and manage platforms”.
The jobs board warns that failure on the part of both IT contractors and clients to address looming skills shortages in the mobile space could result in the UK falling “behind other competitive markets in its ability to produce and manage mobile projects”.