Shortage of skilled workers could be forcing British companies to go to US, tech secretary says

A lack of properly skilled workers could be forcing British companies to go to America, science and technology secretary Michelle Donelan said, as the Government launched a new push to get more people into skills bootcamps.

The UK’s ability to hold onto tech firms came into greater focus last year when chip giant Arm opted to list its shares in New York rather than London. Other British startups, like AI firm DeepMind, have been bought out by American tech giants.

Speaking upon the launch of new research to promote a number of Government-backed tech bootcamps, Donelan told the Standard that she wants companies “to continue to grow here and reach that next level and not capping out and ending up predominantly American”.

Arin Osasanya, a UX designer who took part in one of the bootcamps, said it was a “perfect opportunity” for her, as it allowed her to transition to the field having initially studied economics and Spanish at university.

She said: “We want those jobs to be based here in the UK and we want to enable companies to grow and to be able to scale up and not have to leave and go to America. 

“To be able to achieve that, one of the fundamental things that companies need is that skills pipeline.”

The research showed workers in tech earn 55% more than the UK average, with some sub-sectors such as cloud computing seeing pay around two-and-a-half times the average. However, those figures remain well below American pay for similar roles.

The Secretary of State said a new marketing push for the bootcamps was needed as people from non-tech backgrounds mightn’t have known the training was available, or that reskilling could lead to a “really highly remunerated job”.

Ahead of an election, she said the Government was “delivering in terms of opportunities today, but also tomorrow and it will unlock and is unlocking numerous jobs”.