Global Skills Challenges Solved by #SmartWorking

There are many challenges that can be solved by remote working – congestion, productivity, lifestyle flexibility but these can be subjective. Remote presents a smart solution to global industry problems, a major one being the ICT skills gap.

It may come as little surprise that this shift towards remote working has been sparked by the developer community and the huge growth and adoption of technology. The talent gap is not limited to software developers – although it remains the current focal point – it also includes any STEM or ICT related field.

In Europe alone, there will be an estimated 900,000 ICT vacancies by 2020, which has spawned a demand-driven upskilling eLearning industry. To respond to the demand, organisations — such as Ireland’s Code Institute — specialise in rapid learning solutions for would-be coders fully remote mentoring and a blended classroom environment.

As a primary skill, we teach our students how to code in an accelerated time frame. As a result of the course intensity and learning methodology, graduates gain a deep understanding of independent motivation and remote working. – Jim Cassidy, CEO, Code Institute

The coding-deficit is one of the biggest problems, as every company is — in some way — now a software-driven company. Accelerated flexible learning has proven a worthy solution and the industry’s rapid expansion punctuates this.

According to CourseReport, these flexible learning solutions produced  23,000 Coding Bootcamp Graduates in 2017 worldwide, growing 10x in 5 years. While many of these eLearning sources offer in-class options, the majority is accomplished online.

Legacy work culture positions remote working as an alternative to fixed office space, as many say you can never recapture the office-environment.

The demand for remote learning, the proof is there and the demand is being met with a remote solution. Why then would these in-demand graduates go work in a fixed, inflexible office space? Soon, they will opt for this flexibility over anything else.

Talent Continuity with Remote Working

Bootcamps and online learning may train an individual with an essential skill but if they live nowhere near you, how can you hire them? What if your office is nowhere near transit links?

Your location is a huge consideration to applicants… but not if your location is where they are right now. Adopting smart working opens your talent pool immediately to the rest of the world and the 23,000 annual coding graduates. Access to global talent, languages / cultures and stimulating mindsets with collaborative technologies to link them all together.

In the scenario that you do source exceptional local talent, ignoring workplace flexibility can damage your productivity and – in some cases – result in faster turnover.

Let’s start with productivity. A major reason reason why many take online learning courses is so they can maintain their quality of life – professional, family, social or otherwise – and many take that mindset forward. The US loses $1.8 trillion per year from damaged productivity and according to 66% of managers surveyed by Forbes — remote working is a proposed cure.

Case Study

Acknowledging that senior staff wanted the same flexibility as their new millennial workforce, in 2001 PriceWaterhouseCoopers rolled out their flexibility strategy to address these needs and suffered no damage in productivity. As a bonus, absenteeism dropped along with the cost of human resource management.

This case study confirms research conducted by SurePayRoll that states 80% reach maximum productivity from their home workspace, although that may be subjective.

Flexibility doesn’t just bolster your current mindset, it fosters a feeling of consideration from both the employer and employee and has now become an important retention tool. According to Deloitte, 69% of millennials plan to leave their job within 5 years with another 38% expected to leave within 2 years — all owing to the flexibility of the company.

Over the next five years, businesses will need to strategise around these workflow trends.

Part 3 of 3: The Future of SmartWorking

Guest Writer Bio:

 Joe Roche is Head of Content at Blueface with a background in journalism (print + digital), digital marketing / programming education (online + classroom) and public relations. Joe is a keen smart working advocate and has written extensively about the benefits of remote working / learning, voice collaboration, and cloud communication technologies. 

Connect with Joe if you want to chat about remote working, communication technologies or the Philadelphia Eagles.