52% of project managers in East of England think the skills gap is either getting worse or staying the same in their sector.
These are the findings of a recent poll by the Association for Project Management (APM), involving over 1,000 project managers in a variety of UK industries.
When the East of England cohort was asked if they thought the skills gap was getting better or worse in their sector, more than half said it was either staying the same (34%) or getting worse (18%).
These figures were both individually higher than the survey averages of 30% and 13% respectively, while the combined total of 52% was the third highest out of the nine England regions, behind Greater London (78%) and the West Midlands (70%).
The other East of England project managers answered 34% for getting better and 14% for ‘I don’t think there is a skills gap in my sector’.
The skills gap is generally defined as the disparity between the skills that employers need or find desirable, and the skills possessed by employees or prospective workers, to meet job role demands.
The term was coined in the late 1990s and multiple sectors have long raised concerns over the issue, exacerbated by globalisation, the pace of technological change, and specialised skillsets required.
Respondents who thought the skills gap was getting worse said long-term solutions to bridging the problem over the next five years were through wider recruitment (selected by 35%), apprenticeship programmes and on-the-job training (both 24%) and additional training at college, university or apprenticeship level (12%). Another 29% of this sub-group who thought the skills gap was getting worse selected ‘I don’t see this skills gap being bridged’.
Meanwhile, one in six (17%) project managers based in the East of England said their organisation doesn’t run an apprenticeship programme for project professionals.
Professor Adam Boddison OBE, Chief Executive of APM, said, “For decades, the UK has been beset with skills shortages caused by many entrenched and complex reasons, from digital transformation to post-Covid effects.
“It is alarming that just over half of project management professionals working in many essential sectors across the East of England think the problem is getting worse or not improving in 2024, despite all the well-publicised and well-intended initiatives in recent years.
“And while it is positive to see many companies investing in skills by offering apprenticeships, there is a sizeable minority who aren’t doing so currently. Apprenticeships are a fantastic way to help plug the skills gap since they blend a professional qualification with supported learning and development while in a full-time role.
“As the chartered body for the profession, APM champions greater professionalism in projects and driving a better understanding of the importance of the use of expert project professionals in project delivery.”
The survey also found that 14% of East of England project managers believe there was not enough skilled project professionals to deliver projects successfully in their sector and region. Organisation (39%) was the highest-rated options when respondents were asked to pick which skills are most needed, followed by adaptability/flexibility, communication, and leadership (all 31%).
Calls have long been made for urgent action to address skills and labour shortages in multiple sectors across the East of England. The region has 3.1 million economically active people and contributes £1.53 billion gross value added to the UK economy, according to a recent report which said there were over 10,000 employer skills shortages vacancies out of 192,956 (5.5% approximately) in 2019.
