WE WORK WITH COMPANIES LIKE YOURS
Because you can't out-hire a skills gap, but you can think differently about your digital talent.
The digital skills gap: from crisis to resolution
Two-thirds of digital leaders in the UK are unable to keep pace with technological advancement. Why? Because there’s a drastic shortage of digital talent to support, sustain and drive that innovation.
That’s hardly surprising when you consider that the number of young people taking IT GCSE subjects has fallen by over 40% since 2015, despite the fact that 82% of UK job listings cite digital skills as a requirement.
In the digital age, the way individuals develop new skills has changed. Textbooks have been replaced with bite-sized content consumed on-the-go. Bedrooms are the new classrooms. Advanced web development is pitched as a side-hustle.
Over 53% of the talent we place has digital skills that are self-taught; invisible on a CV. Yet we’ve made it our business to see below the surface of the talent landscape to find the future of our industry.
Talent doesn't look like it used to
And we’ve got the model to prove it.
It’s flexible by design to support tangible business objectives across the talent agenda. But one constant is its enablement of our customers to proactively plan and deliver the hiring, upskilling, re-skilling and deployment of key capabilities across their organisations at a speed and scale that’s changing the game.
Attract
We search for talent in the people and places others don’t think to look.
Select
We evaluate applicants objectively through a short test of their knowledge and behaviours, and match them with the opportunity that’s right for them.
Train
We develop the technical and soft skills needed to be job-ready in as little as 6 weeks.
Place
We connect our graduates with the employers in our network for interview and hire.
Where others look. We see.
Our unique process enables us to see value where others don’t. Because of it, we can create messaging that’s more impactful, more engaging, and ultimately more inclusive, driving a more diverse applicant mix that’s not compromised on quality. And that’s only via traditional channels.
We’re also approaching the market differently. Our Social Impact Partners – charities, NPOs and social enterprises that each serve a community under-represented in the industry – work with us to ensure our opportunities aren’t limited to those easiest to reach.
our impact ACROSS DE&i
Benefits of our model
The impact of our Academy model extends far beyond commercial benefits. In fact, its inherent inclusivity is proven to significantly advance workforce diversification across a range of crucial categories, as well as improving productivity and talent retention across our partners’ organisations.
Age diversity
Age-based discrimination and biases persist, yet employees of different ages bring crucial skills.
Gender diversity
Right now, women make up a mere 19% of the tech workspace within the UK.
Ethnic diversity
Only 4% of UK tech leadership is black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME).
Neurodiversity
Unemployment for neurodivergent adults runs at least as high as 30-40%, which is eight times the rate for people without disability.
Socioeconomic status
The ‘digital divide’ engendered by socioeconomic diversity has rendered many low-income households with limited or no access to technology.
Below are some highlights taken from our latest Women-In-Tech Academy run in partnership with NTT DATA UK and Microsoft to support women into the industry on a national scale:
“It’s clear that overdue change is needed to make tech more inclusive and welcoming to women. For too long, businesses have relied on the same narrow pool of candidates, missing out the rich range of skills and perspectives that can only be provided by a diverse workforce. I am delighted to work with our partners at Route 2 Work on this journey, and I cannot wait to see this cohort develop and grow. The digital skills they will develop in the academies are in high demand from prospective employers, equipping this new, more diverse pool of individuals for future success in our industry.”
Katie Daniels, Portfolio Director at NTT DATA UK
Skill areas we specialise in.
Explore our learning pathways for the digital skills most in-demand.
CYBER
The benefits provided by the exponential growth of our tech ecosystem are far more significant than we ever expected. The opportunities we now have access to are immense, but so are the shortcomings. One of those shortcomings is how much more accessible it is to attempt cybercrime. As a result, demand for skilled cyber professionals has soared.
DATA
Data is all around us. And each day globally we create an estimated 2.5 quintillion more bytes of the stuff. However data is only useful if you can easily find, share and interpret it. As a result, Data Analysts, Engineers & Scientists are in high demand across many industries, as more businesses appreciate the need for these hidden heroes for a data-driven approach.
SOFTWARE
The skillset that powers everything from the money we manage online to the food delivery orders we place through our favorite apps. In the UK alone it’s estimated another 1.5million people with these advanced digital skills will be required in the next 2-years to keep up with commercial demand. Be one of the next to hit the market.
CLOUD
Once seen as a mystery is now known widely as a method of using someone else’s server. However due to its scalability, lower cost, increased reliability and security, companies adopting a cloud first infrastructure approach have dramatically increased in recent years. Making cloud-based roles one of the most sought-after technical skills today.
There's nothing 'soft' about power skills.
Not all high-in-demand skills are about staying ahead of the technical curve. Skills related to leadership, teamwork, communication, productivity, and wellness are all critical to employee – and organisational – performance in the long-term.
L&D leaders agree that it’s these skills that give employees power in the workplace. So, they form an essential part of our robust training curriculums across every Academy, ensuring our graduates have the core competencies their future employers need.
Don't just take our word for it...
In this challenging market, there is a need for organisations to think differently about connecting with talent. It was this mission that brought us to Hatch. Their incredible technology is a truly revolutionary approach to recruitment.”
This programme was a huge milestone in our digital strategy, to enable us to step up our data skills and lead with a digital mindset in preparation for upcoming technologies and challenges.”
The magic was in the assessment process. We’ve found the Microsoft experts of the future. Most had no IT training but were digital natives and had the self-taught skills that employers don’t yet know how to value. They’re still with us and we’re hugely proud of them.”