Lifelong learning will help to unlock economic growth - Sam Hameed

A recent Gallup and Amazon Web Services (AWS) study shows that advanced digital skills, such as cloud architecture and software development, could raise the UK's annual GDP by £67.8 billion. Yorkshire's booming technology sector has a crucial role in delivering this growth.

The digital sector is essential to growing the economy and cracking the perennial issue of productivity. It's clear that businesses that integrate digital skills will see higher rates of revenue growth and innovation. Additionally, individuals with advanced digital skills earned 30% more than those without.

However, the study also revealed a skills gap, with only 11% of UK workers possessing advanced digital skills, while 72% of businesses surveyed have a vacancy for workers with digital skills. In addition, 68% of companies found hiring the digital workers they need challenging.

The research further showed that employees with advanced digital skills are not only better paid but also have higher job satisfaction and productivity. Over half (58%) of workers with advanced digital skills expressed high job satisfaction, compared to 43% of workers with basic or intermediate digital skills.

Despite a hunger to learn, barriers to acquiring digital skills remain, with 93% of UK workers interested in additional training stating they faced at least one obstacle. While global technology companies, such as AWS, have committed to investing hundreds of millions of pounds to provide free cloud computing skills training, the answer for creating the skills our region needs lies closer to home.

With new technologies emerging, such as artificial intelligence, businesses also need to prepare for future hiring challenges. The prioritisation of digital skills among employees will enable organisations to innovate and take advantage of the potential of these new technologies.

There is a clear need to upskill workers and bridge the skills gap to unlock the full potential of Yorkshire's digital economy. However, I suspect that answer comes not in flagship policies or multi-billion pound investments but rather in companies taking a longer-term view on the benefits of investing in digital skills, which creates a win-win-win for employees, employers and the economy.

It can be hard to justify additional investment in training when margins are tight, and the cost of business is rising. However, when the prize of increased innovation and growth depends on the digital skills of your workforce, it's important to focus on what's important and spend accordingly.As recruitment specialists in the technology industry, we know that the companies that invest in their people are the most attractive to potential recruits. Of course, the government can supercharge this investment by offering larger tax incentives for digital training, but let's avoid hanging around for the next budget.Sam Hameed is co-founder and managing director of SPG Resourcing, a technology talent advisory business with offices in both Leeds and Newcastle.