REPORT: Scottish Technology Industry Survey

Room For More Growth!

The Scottish Technology Industry Survey report looks forward to more growth for Scotland’s tech sector

Research by ScotlandIS, the report describes Scotland’s digital technologies industry as having an optimistic future and continuing to grow sales, profits and headcount, after a strong 2016.

The survey found that 82% of businesses expect sales to increase in 2017 and 78% of those surveyed said they have a very optimistic or optimistic view for the year ahead.

The digital technologies industry’s positive outlook follows the sustained growth of the sector in 2016. Seven out of ten companies reported an increase in sales, some by more than 50% year on year.

Predicted employment growth is also on the up since last year’s survey. Overall 78% of firms forecast that they will hire more staff in 2017, compared with 66 percent in 2016. This rises to 84% for small businesses when taken on their own.

Digital technologies trade body, ScotlandIS, produced the annual survey sponsored in 2017 by Nine Twenty Technology.

Polly Purvis, chief executive of ScotlandIS, said:

“The results of this year’s survey show the confidence and resilience of the digital technologies industry which is continuing to grow and maintain its optimistic outlook despite uncertainties in the political environment.

“This is great news not just for our sector, but also for the economy as a whole. The digital technologies industry generates over £5 billion in GVA for Scotland every year and is becoming more and more important in our increasingly digital world.”

The skills shortage remains an issue for firms but the data showed companies are embracing alternative routes into the sector, with 38% of respondents reporting that they are likely to recruit modern apprentices in 2017, up from 29% last year.

For the first time since 2013, demand for experienced staff has outstripped that for graduates, although the need for university graduates continues to be a priority for firms of all sizes.

Software and web development remain the most in demand skills but there is also a strong requirement for commercial, business support and project management skills, which are required by more than two thirds of companies. In this area sales and business development skills are particularly sought after.

A growing number of firms (73%) expect to recruit the majority of new staff from within Scotland, compared with 60% in 2016. At the same time, the percentage of businesses forecasting that new talent will come from outside the UK has dropped from 21% to 9%.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

 

EVENT: Making the Most of Mentoring Workshop

GGS Announce:

Event: Making the Most of Mentoring Workshop
Date: Saturday 4 June 2016
Time: 10:30 – 12:30 (30mins set-up time, 1.5hrs workshop)
Venue: University of Edinburgh, School of Informatics, 10 Crichton street, Room: G07 (TBC)
Cost: FREE to register
Who: Open to participants of any gender who are 18 years or over, who work in or wants to work in the technology sector

SIGN UP FOR THIS EVENT ON EVENTBRITE HERE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-the-most-of-mentoring-workshop-tickets-25037020402

 

Our FREE Making The Most of Mentoring Workshop is suitable for people at every stage of their career in the technology sector.

So, whether you are a student seeking your first job, in a junior position, or at mid-level thinking about your next career move, this workshop will help you flourish.

There are a wide range of jobs in the technology sector, and this workshop is designed to be role agnostic. It is open to anyone who works in, or wants to work in the technology sector provided they are 18 years old or above.

This event will explore unconscious bias, and practical strategies for making the most of a mentor – whether you have one yet or not.

Thanks to the support of some of the best recruitment agencies in Scoltand, we are able to offer a matching service to put you in touch with someone in your line of work, who can help you plan for the road ahead. If you don’t yet have a mentor, come along and join our mentoring programme.

The Workshop is open to participants of any gender, and you do not need to be a member of Girl Geek Scotland to attend. This Workshop is open to anyone who would like to attend. You will be working in groups of 3-4 people.

Girl Geek Scotland, together with our parent organisations Edinburgh Napier University and Bright Red Triangle, are working with a number of high profile companies to develop the mentoring scheme further.

 

Requirements:

  • Participants must be 18 years or older
  • Laptops required – please bring your own equipment with you

 

The workshop is part of the ScotlandJS International Conference.

 

Code of Conduct:

As part of the ScotlandJS International Conference we ask all delegates to abide by the Code Of Conduct: http://scotlandjs.com/codeofconduct/ScotlandJS is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion.

 

Girl Geek Scotland:

Girl Geek Scotland

Girl Geek Scotland (GGS) is a network for women working with Creativity, Computing and Enterprise in Scotland. GGS aims to develop a network of women, who are able to support each other at entry-level and throughout their careers, working at the intersection between these areas.

 

Partners, Sponsors & Suppliers:

Scotland JS

ScotlandJS is the beating heart of the JavaScript community within Scotland and is now in its fifth year. Events attract both local and international speakers and attendees with a very unique, welcoming and diverse feel.

Enigma

Enigma People Solutions are a multi award winning recruitment consultancy, specialising in contract and permanent vacancies across: Digital Media, Software Development, Electronics, Technology Sales & Marketing, Technology Support, We offer a professional, flexible, and honest consultancy service to businesses across Scotland, The UK, and internationally.

Cathcart Associates

Cathcart Associates was founded by a team of the country’s most successful recruiters, with a desire to show that good recruitment consultancy should provide a service which is simple, professional and effective. Their approach demonstrates that recruiting technical talent can be simple, seamless and enjoyable, and provides a service which adds value at every stage of the recruitment process. They are an agile and independent organisation with no parent group and are able to offer a more cost-effective solution, allowing investment more freely into their database and advertising reach.

Spring Personnel

Spring Personnel specialise in all aspects of office based and industrial recruitment. Their expertise lies in the provision of flexible staffing programmes, developed to ensure that clients receive a comprehensive staffing service. Their consultative approach is designed to ensure that each client experiences a service that is relevant to their recruitment strategy and organisation. From one-off assignments to totally managed recruitment programmes Spring Personnel has the expertise and resources to deliver a full range of recruitment services, addressing the entire recruitment cycle.

Inclusiq

The InclusIQ Institute develops serious educational games on unconscious bias and inclusive leadership, which have been popular with clients such as the Law Society of Scotland, Equate Scotland and the University of Edinburgh Business School.

Administrate

Administrate are a dedicated team that are passionate about making lives better through software. They spend most of their day talking to, developing for, and thinking about training providers (their customers) and their students. Their software helps training companies and training departments manage their entire business. Their integrated online system includes three products that focus on making training administration easier, helping deliver outstanding e-learning, and assisting in keeping websites up-to-date.

InformaticsVentures

Informatics Ventures supports globally ambitious technology companies headquartered in Scotland. Through practitioner-led entrepreneurship education and community networking, they prepare and equip Scotland’s technology entrepreneurs to scale up internationally. Engage Invest Exploit (EIE), their flagship technology investor showcase, connects Scotland’s most exciting and innovative young companies with investors from all over the world and prepares them for the process of securing investment. There is no bigger platform for Scottish businesses than EIE.

sicsa-logo

SICSA The Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) is a Scottish Funding Council Research Pool, comprising 14 of Scotland’s Universities. Our goal is to develop Scotland’s research excellence in Informatics and Computing Science (ICS) by supporting and facilitating collaboration among our members.

Edinburgh Napier University

Now home to over 18,000 students from over 100 countries, we first welcomed 800 students as Napier Technical College in 1964. However our story goes back to the time of John Napier, the brilliant sixteenth century mathematician and philosopher from whom we take our name. When you come to Edinburgh Napier University, you’ll study at one of our six specialist schools. Each of our schools is an impressive institution in its own right, with world-class facilities, academics, researchers and international links.

Bright Red Triangle

Bright Red Triangle (BRT) offers a comprehensive set of professional/personal development activities for students and graduates in partnership with key stakeholders within and beyond Edinburgh Napier. Our focus is on improving the enterprise skills and employability of our students and graduates while instilling them with an entrepreneurial mindset. We offer business incubation services, paid consultancy experience as well as design thinking and design your future courses to our current and past students.