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Skills Audit Report 2015
MANCHESTER DIGITAL
Manchester Digital is the independent trade association for digital businesses in the
North West of England. It provides its members with unrivalled access to relevant
information, knowledge and networks, giving them the chance to attend
inspirational events, generate new business, set up collaborative projects and find
new talent – as well as the opportunity to shape the future of digital in the North
West.
A large part of Manchester Digital’s activity is dedicated to the development of
skills and talent to support the region’s vibrant and growing sector.
In February 2015, Manchester Digital held its fourth annual Skills Festival, consisting of
4 events: Conference, Talent Day, Experience Day and Open Studio Day.
Talent Day is the largest event of its kind; a careers fair for students considering a
career in digital, looking to find placements, full time work or apprenticeships. Over
1000 students attended Talent Day this year and over 70 digital businesses were
offering career opportunities.
Conference topics discussed included equality in tech; a devolved Manchester;
redesigning the world around us and conflict in the curriculum. Businesses, policy
makers and educational institutions attended the conference and by bringing
these groups together, Manchester Digital is helping to shape the future policy and
the provision of digital education. A short report on findings from the conference is
also available.
Ahead of the event, Manchester Digital distributed a survey to its members to gain
factual insights into the demand for digital talent in the region and to understand
how businesses are dealing with ever increasing competition for talent.
Chair of Manchester Digital, Tony Foggett presented and discussed the results at
the Skills Festival Conference. This report is an in-depth analysis of the survey, which
was completed by 86 members of the association. It is also supported by data
collected during the Skills Festival.
SUMMARY OF KEY THEMES AND INSIGHTS
As in 2013 and 2014, employers report a large number of hard-to-fill
vacancies with technical development being the hardest. PHP, Magento
and Java Script were cited as the most difficult roles to fill.
Developers, designers, sales and business development are the three roles
that respondents cited as “most likely to grow in importance”
80% of respondents are experiencing “growing pains” in their businesses.
ANALYSIS FROM TALENT DAY ATTENDEES
This chart shows where the students who attended the Skills Festival came from and
is a reflection of which institutions understand the importance of industry
engagement when it comes to placing students in jobs*1.
Manchester Metropolitan University 275
University of Salford 212
Eccles Sixth Form 144
Oldham College 62
University of Manchester 59
Trafford College 45
Liverpool John Moores University 44
University of Central Lancashire 33
University of Bolton 22
Edge Hill University 22
Chorlton High School 20
Other 17
Open University 13
Priestly College 12
Manchester College 10
Manchester Business School 6
Loreto college 5
Staffordshire University 4
Shillington College 4
1 These figures are taken from two days before we closed registration so will be a
conservative estimate
ANALYSIS
Q1: What type of business are you?
The below chart provides a detailed breakdown of the types of digital businesses
that are in the region and make up the Manchester Digital membership.
From 2014, there has been a 1% decrease (from 36% to 35%) in the number of
digital agencies.
Design and build has grown by 1% and software developer has dropped by 4%.
Agency
Professional services
Production (TV, Film or Video)
ConsultancyMedia planning & buying agency
SEO agency
PRPublic Sector
Recruiter or Training Provider
Software developer
Design & Build
Q2: What is your main business function?
Web Design 36.0%
Content Marketing and Strategy 29.1%
User Experience and Usability 29.1%
Mobile 27.9%
Strategy and Planning 26.7%
Social Media 22.1%
Other 22.1%
Web Project Management 20.9%
E-commerce 18.6%
Search Marketing 18.6%
Web Analytics 17.4%
B2B Marketing 14.0%
Customer Experience 12.8%
Conversion Rate Optimisation 12.8%
Online Advertising 11.6%
Online PR 11.6%
Online Copywriting 10.5%
Email Marketing 9.3%
Community Management 8.1%
Multichannel Marketing 8.1%
Video and Rich Media 5.8%
Online Customer Service 4.7%
Animation 3D 3.5%
Games Development 3.5%
eCRM 2.3%
Animation 2D 2.3%
Affiliate Marketing 2.3%
Visual FX 1.2%
Connected TV 0.0%
Q3: How many people do you currently employ?
This chart accurately depicts the size of the businesses that make up the
Manchester Digital membership. The majority of businesses are SMEs, with strong
representation from digital and marketing agencies. However the profile of
membership is changing with a marked increase in tech start-ups joining
membership and larger businesses (51+) such as BBC, Virgin Media, Autotrader,
Shop Direct, rentalcars.com and Boohoo recently joining. Start-ups are keen to join
for the networking opportunities and to increase their chances of finding investment
whilst for larger businesses the driver is access to talent.
Less than 5, 34.9%
5 - 10, 9.3%
11 - 25, 17.4%
26 - 50, 14.0%
51 - 100, 4.7%
More than 100, 19.8%
Q4: Of those employees, please tell us how many are full time and how many are
part time.
Full time:
Part time:
Less than 534%
5 - 1013%11 - 25
14%
26 - 5014%
51 - 1005%
More than 10020%
Less than 566%
5 - 104%
11 - 2515%
26 - 504%
51 - 10011%
More than 1000%
Q5: Has your business grown in the last 12 months?
The number of businesses that have grown in the last 12 months has decreased by
around 3% compared to figures from 2014 although the trend of overall business
growth across the sector continues.
Nearly 75% of all respondents had taken on between 1 and 10 new staff members
with a quarter taking on between 11 and 100.
Q6: If yes, how many additional roles have you recruited?
Yes, 80.6%
No, 19.4%
Less than 5, 45.1%
5 - 10, 29.4%
11 - 25, 11.8%
26 - 50, 5.9%
51 - 100, 3.9%More than 100,
3.9%
Q7: Please could you tell us roughly how your workforce is split?
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of respondents have a fairly even split of functions
across the business, although it is interesting to note that quite a number of
businesses appear to have a top heavy structure with some reporting over 80% of
their business is made up of management.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Less than 10% 20% 40% 60% 80% More than 80%
Q10: Do you have dedicated roles with responsibility for the acquisition of talent in
your organisation?
Compared to 2014, more respondents have dedicated roles for the acquisition of
talent. This may be due in part to the difficulties that many businesses have in
recruiting and retaining talent with many agencies claiming they pay more in
external recruiter fees than it costs to have a dedicated in-house recruiter.
Q11: If no, who manages talent and recruitment?
Yes, 37.9%
No, 62.1%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
ManagingDirector
Other senior staff Office Manager Responsibility ofall staff
Q12: What are the 3 most difficult roles to fill?
The 2015 results differ vastly to the 2013 and 2014 results. In 2014, Developers were
the hardest roles to fill (61% of respondents cited this), but in 2014, PPC Exec and
Project Manager also featured (11% and 17% respectively).
The shift towards the requirement for designers offers an interesting insight into the
current needs of our member businesses.
Sales / Business Development demand has increased from 11% in 2014 to 38.5% as it
currently stands.
Designer, 28.8%
Sales / Business Development, 38.5%
Developer, 48.1%
Q13: If you chose "developer", please specify the language/platform.
This year the top 3 most difficult languages to recruit for are PHP, Java Script and
Magento. Last year, 77% of respondents cited PHP developers as being the most
difficult to find. We do not believe that the market has eased and that it is any
easier to find PHP Developers but instead that demand for the other languages has
also grown. Magento is an ecommerce software which probably reflects the
growth of this sector in the North West.
Drupal, 7.7%
Magento, 14.1%
Ruby on Rails, 2.6%
PHP, 20.5%
Python, 3.8%
Java Script, 17.9%
SQL, 12.8%
C++, 6.5%
Other (please specify), 14.1%
Q14: Which skill sets will grow in importance to your business / output over the next
24 months?
There has been a significant change in figures from 2014 with developer roles
dropping in significance by around 20% and the importance of the designer role
going up by 6.6%. Project Manager has remained quite static, only increasing by
1%. Digital Marketing Professional has dropped from 17% to 9% and SEO has
increased by around 2%.
Developers, 15.5%
Designers, 11.6%
Project Managers, 11.0%
Social Media, 7.1%
Digital Marketing Professional, 9.0%
SEO / Analytics, 9.7%
Mobile, 9.0%
Business Development, 8.4%
Account Management, 7.1%
PR, 3.2%
Sales, 8.4%
Q15: Have you had to inflate salaries to remain competitive in the labour market?
The number of businesses having to inflate salaries has increased from 47% in 2014.
Many of our members, especially smaller agencies say wage inflation is a real issue
for them. There are a number of large businesses recruiting for the same roles who
are able to offer significantly higher salaries and benefits that smaller businesses are
unable to compete with.
Yes, 51.1%
No, 48.9%
Q16: For the below job types please give an indication of salary increases you have
made over the last 12 months?
As the chart below shows, development and user experience roles have seen the
largest increases although most roles have seen only a 10% or less increase.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Creative Development ProjectManagement
Client Service/ Liaison
Sales &Marketing
Strategy UserExperience
IT &Infrastructure
Less than 10% 20% 40% 60% 80% More than 80%
Q17: What other benefits do you offer to employees to aid attraction and retention?
In 2014, nearly 20% of respondents said that they provided flexible hours as an
employee benefit. This has reduced to 13.4% in 2015. However, social benefits,
flexible location and cycle to work schemes have all increased. Health care,
pensions and gym membership have all decreased year on year.
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
14.0%
Q18: Which jobs do you most outsource or use freelance talent for?
Compared to 2014, outsourcing for developer roles has decreased by around 10%.
Less businesses also use contractors compared to 2014 (24%). Web design has
increased by 13% and SEO by 2%. Design has decreased by just less than 5%.
Development, 23.3%
SEO, 12.3%
Design, 9.6%
Game developer and illustrator, 5.5%
Web Design, 17.8%
Social Media, 2.7%
PPC, 8.2%
Digital Marketing, 5.5%
We don't outsource or use contractors, 13.7%
Other (please specify), 1.4%
Q19: Have you had to turn away work as a result of being unable to find the right
talent?
This illustrates a worrying trend in the sector. In 2014, 73% of respondents said no
whereas over half of respondents this year have said yes. Even more worryingly,
over 25% of respondents estimated the monetary value of this to be over £50,000.
Q20: If yes, can you estimate a monetary value for this over the last 3 years?
Yes, 56.5%
No, 43.5%
Less than £5,000, 21.7%
£5,000 - £10,000, 17.4%
£10,000 - £25,000, 8.7%
£25,000 - £50,000, 26.1%
More than £50,000, 26.1%
Q21: Do you recruit graduates?
This chart shows a slight increase in the number of respondents not recruiting
graduates – up from 15% in 2014. However, the number of companies running their
own graduate schemes is exactly the same as in 2014.
Q22: Do you run your own graduate scheme?
Yes, 76.1%
No, 23.9%
Yes, 34.8%
No, 65.2%
Q23: Which University are you most likely to recruit talent from?
The vast majority of respondents would recruit graduates from a university in the
Greater Manchester area – a trend which shows great support for the local area
and for the student community. However, given the shortage of talent there is work
to do with other Northern universities to encourage their students to see Manchester
as a place to live and work after they graduate.
University of Manchester, 29.6%
Manchester Metropolitan
University, 29.6%
University of Salford, 18.4%
Liverpool Universities, 7.1%
Other North West Universities, 11.2%
Other (please specify), 4.1%
Q24: Which university course are you most likely to recruit from?
Unsurprisingly, the majority of respondents recruited from computer science and
digital marketing courses. This is not only reflective of the sector but perhaps also
the strong relationships that those course leaders build with the digital community
through such initiatives as Manchester Metropolitan University’s Agency Life and
Manchester Digital’s Talent Day. Some institutions are better than others when it
comes down to employer engagement but much of this success depends on the
individual lecturers commitment to engaging with industry and encouraging
students to be work ready.
Advertising & Marketing, 13.8%
Business Management, 6.3%
Computer Science, 27.5%
Digital Marketing, 21.3%
Information and Communications, 16.2%
Marketing, 11.2%
Other (please specify), 3.7%
Q25: Which roles do you find hardest to fill from local universities or colleges?
Compared to the 2014 audit results, developer roles now appear easier to fill with a
decrease of 30%. Every other type of role has increased in difficulty though,
particularly designers, creative and project managers.
Systems Administrators, 6.4%
Developers, 24.4%
Designers, 14.1%
Creative, 10.3%
Project Managers, 11.5%
Account Executives, 11.5%
Business Development, 9.0%
Marketing, 9.0%
Other (please specify), 3.8%
Q25: Have you taken on apprentices in the last 3 years?
This year we can see an increase of around 10% in the number of business who
have taken on apprentices although this still isn’t as high as the figures we saw in
2013 (48% of business had taken on an apprentice).
Whilst encouraging to see this number rising again, the number of businesses who
haven’t taken on an apprentice is still high; perhaps reflecting a continued
reticence to take on young people with little or no experience. It is important that
employers understand the apprenticeship landscape and how it could work for
their business. The infrastructure behind digital apprenticeships still needs to be
developed. The supply of good talent from schools into apprenticeships is still poor
and funding streams are still viewed as complex by employers. In addition training
provision is still patchy and good technical training in apprenticeships is hard to
come by.
Yes, 39.1%
No, 60.9%
Q26: If yes, did the apprenticeship meet your expectations?
These figures show a slight increase in the number of businesses who felt the
apprenticeship met their expectations (up from 83% in 2014). These figures are
extremely encouraging.
Yes, 88.9%
No, 11.1%
Q27: If no, what stopped you?
Per our findings from 2013 and 2014, capacity / ability to manage an apprentice is
the most common reason for not taking on an apprentice.
Once again though, the quality of applicants is a close second place meaning that
there is still a lot of work to be done to secure the right type of talent and improve
the training that is given. Whilst there appears to be more apprentices coming
through the pipeline, it is important that there are jobs at the end for them.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
The results of the 2015 Skills Audit show a slightly more optimistic picture compared
to 2014. The increase in take up of apprenticeships is encouraging but needs to
accelerate far more quickly to provide a medium term, valuable solution to the
talent shortage.
There is still a huge amount of work to be done to make sure that we meet the
current talent demand for Manchester’s digital sector and a significant amount of
planning if we are to have enough people with digital skills to resource the 14,000
jobs that according to Oxford Economics will be required by 2025. It is essential that
we, with the support of local and regional partners continue to promote the
opportunities that exist for young people in digital and that we work closely with the
businesses themselves to help them understand the landscape and how to find and
retain the right talent.
Our Skills Festival goes a long way towards supporting this activity and we work
closely with schools, colleges, universities and businesses to offer the best
opportunities to young people, thus increasing the flow of talent into the pipeline.
However, in order to upscale our activity and grow our talent and skills programme
to meet demand we will have to attract additional resource. We have created
several initiatives that we think will ease the current talent problem and hope to
discuss these with public sector partners in the coming months. We will update
members as these conversations progress.
We will continue with our programme of CPD courses, which have been a great
success. These courses, many of which are free or heavily subsidised for Manchester
Digital members are extremely important in ensuring that the existing talent within
digital businesses are continuing to gain relevant skills and knowledge, upskilling
and in some cases, learning whole new skillsets in order to better service the
business that they work in.
If you want to get in touch to learn more about our skills work or you have particular
training needs that you think we can help with, please contact Katie Gallagher,
Managing Director of Manchester Digital: [email protected].