Digital Skills Demand and Shortages and Their Impact on the UK Regions
This research report examines the demand and shortages of digital skills across the UK, highlighting an increasing necessity for these skills in various regions, sectors, and occupations.
Without immediate action, the economic cost of digital skills shortages in the UK could escalate to as much as £27.6 billion by 2030, significantly impacting both the workforce and regional economies.
From 2012 to 2022, the number of job posts requiring digital skills nearly doubled, indicating a significant nationwide demand, especially in London and the South East. Advanced digital skills related to software development and AI are increasingly in demand, along with intermediate and basic skills that bolster productivity.
The report identifies stark regional disparities and anticipates severe economic consequences if these shortages persist, estimating a potential economic cost of up to £27.6 billion by 2030 with considerable job losses, particularly in professional and associate professional roles.
Meet the Authors
Dr Huanjia Ma
Huanjia joined the City-REDI team in February 2022 as a Research Fellow. He is currently involved in Socio-Economic Impact Model for the UK (SEIM-UK model). He also contributes to projects on regional economic development and inclusive growth.
Huanjia recently completed PhD in Economics from the University of Birmingham. He is an applied economist specialising in panel data and causal inference. His PhD thesis studies household and firm behaviours in China by applying various quantitative tools. His broad research interest lies in the field of financial economics, regional economics and political economics.
Dr Konstantinos Kollydas
Kostas is a Research Fellow who joined City-REDI in May 2021. He is an applied economist, and his research fields lie broadly in labour economics and economics of education.
Kostas completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Bath. His thesis explored discrepancies in performance and progression in the UK universities between students from different ethnic backgrounds and investigated ethnic pay inequalities amongst graduates in the British labour market.
Kostas has previously held positions in the private sector, working for eight years in market research and management consultancy firms in Greece.
Dr Matt Lyons
Matt Lyons joined the City-REDI team in May 2021 as a Research Fellow. He is responsible for developing the team’s regional economic modelling capabilities whilst supporting projects across the West Midlands Regional Economic Development Institute. Additionally, he will contribute to research in the creative industries.
He is an economic geographer with a specialism in regional economic development. Matt’s PhD describes the extent to which the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal can address the economic development problems of South East Wales through a focus on the creative economy.
Anne Green
Anne is Professor of Regional Economic Development and Co-Director at City REDI. With a background in geography, her research interests span employment, non-employment, regional and local labour market issues, skills strategies, migration and commuting, urban and regional development, evaluation and public policy issues. She has longstanding experience working in interdisciplinary research institutes in higher education.