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IT contractors with digital skills can earn £500 per day as the expected shortage of IT professionals with the right digital skills begins to unfold and demand continues to increase.

Skills in the web, mobile and social networking sectors have continued to be in demand despite the economic slowdown in recent years. Figures from a European Commission report expect the UK will have a shortage of 100,000 people to fill IT jobs in the next few years. In Europe, including the UK, the skills shortage is expected to reach 700,000.

JM Digital, reports that the lack of supply of digital IT workers is becoming a real issue for many companies. The company says there was an 18% increase in demand for digital skills over the last three months, which was particularly driven by increased use of mobile devices and social media websites.

The company said more firms are setting up in London, which is driving demand in the UK.

“With the UK being seen as Europe’s equivalent to Silicon Valley, demand is also being driven by the increasing number of companies moving to London. These range from start-ups to multinationals from the UK, Europe and further afield,” said Dave Pye, CEO of the JM Group.

Established IT companies such as Google, Cisco, Intel and Facebook, have also set up some operations in TechCity, London’s technology hub.

“The demand for digital IT workers is continuing to grow at a rapid rate but the supply of individuals with these skills is yet to catch up,” said Pye. “While this is causing issues for companies right now, this problem is only going to get worse as the digital economy is set to explode over the next few years.”

According to JM Group, the skills in highest demand include developers, user experience designers and digital project managers across social media, e-commerce and mobile/tablet platforms. The company also found that demand for user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) skills rose by around 11% in the last three months while demand for digital project managers increased 6% in the same period.

David Young, head of JM Digital, says the rising demand for digital skills is showing no signs of abating: “If you are an IT contractor, the digital sector is the place to be at the moment. Especially when you consider that digital IT contractors with experience in mobile/tablet platforms or social media can now be earning as much as £500 per day.

A survey of over 1,000 IT workers has found that employers are facing competition for tech skills, as 73% of IT professionals report considering changing jobs for the right role.

59% of respondents in permanent roles said the recession had not affected their career in the long term. Those in full time positions said they have noticed salary increases, with 54% receiving a pay rise, and 51% of them admitting that the salary increase was of 3% or more.

However despite these findings most feel they are overworked, with 61% saying they have experienced an increase in their workloads over the last 12 months. More than half (59%) said they are dissatisfied with the fact their current organisation doesn’t offer any career progression opportunities.

The contract market remains lucrative as only 6% of IT professionals said they are considering moving to a permanent position next. In addition 56% said they would wait eight weeks between contract roles before having to consider a permanent position.

Candidates remain in particular demand for mobile payment platforms. Roles also include developers for the visual and gaming industries, business process analysts, IT change experts and data specialists.

Revealed at The Service Desk & IT Support Show, which ran alongside Infosec 2012 at Earls Court last week, The Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Professional Practice (IT Service Management) is a combination of the existing Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and modules developed by The Open University.

The postgraduate qualification builds on Global Knowledge’s ITIL curriculum, with modules jointly developed by The Open University’s Business School and Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology.

The certificate obtained at the end of the one-year course can be counted towards a Masters in Technology Management, an MBA or other Masters-level learning programmes.

Applications for this Post-Graduate course need to have already obtained the ITIL. Despite the ITIL being owned by the Cabinet Office as the ITSM worldwide standard, it does not require an individual to prove they can apply these skills in the workplace.

Kevin Streater, The Open University’s head of IT industry engagement, said proving that you can take the skills learnt from the ITIL and apply them in a business environment, is the main purpose of this certification.

Speaking last week, Streater commented: “Having the right industry certifications is good, but it doesn’t show how flexible you are and it doesn’t show you have a broader understanding of how these qualifications fit into the wider business. The new PGC rounds off the skills learnt during the ITIL, but also shows employers that you know how to apply these.”

Streater said that, by partnering with Global Knowledge, The Open University can stay current and up-to-date on the changing, in-depth modules needed on the course.

Allan Pettman, UK managing director at Global Knowledge, said the certification allows employees to demonstrate the tangible difference it has made to working in their organisation. He explained that the partnership between the Open University and Global Knowledge means the gap between individuals gaining certifications and organisations seeing actual benefits is now being bridged.

“There seems to be a disconnect between service managers being able to demonstrate what they have learnt on a technical level and demonstrating that in the workplace. This certificate gives service managers the tools and confidence to do just that,” he added.

“The skills debate reflects that there is not a shortage in hard/technical IT skills, but in communicating these in to business benefits.”

In a UK e-skills report published last year it was revealed that ITSM skills are set to be the most pressing learning need in the industry over the next decade.

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Chaired by UK digital champion, Martha Lane Fox, the board will meet bi-annually to advise the Cabinet Office’s Government Digital Service (GDS), on the accessibility of online services as they are trialled throughout Whitehall departments.

The DAB’s 12 members include: Laura Wade-Gery, executive director of multi-channel at Marks & Spencer; Alex Balfour, LOCOG’s head of new media; Brent Hoberman, co-founder of Last Minute.com; Richard Allan, director of policy at Facebook; and Ashley Machin, director of digital at Lloyds.

Lane Fox said the board would enable government to take the next step to delivering digital services.

“The members were chosen due to their expertise, it’s an interesting line-up of people who bring a whole range of different experiences including knowledge of dealing with large scale digital transactions,” she told Computer Weekly.

She praised the work done by Government Digital Service (GDS) director of digital Mike Bracken and his team in the first iteration of the single government domain, Gov.uk.

However, for Lane Fox, it will be a huge task in getting government departments to move to a digital by default model, particularly as more online transactions are developed for services.

“The digital agenda requires a massive cultural change,” said Lane Fox.

The DAB will be able to share lessons learnt from implementing similar large-scale digital programmes, she added. “It will be able to help to stress-test the digital platforms.”

Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude, said: “The impressive expertise and experience on the Digital Advisory Board will help us achieve our challenging goal of delivering all services digitally so they are cheaper, simpler, clearer and quicker and easier to use.”

Professor Helen Margetts, director of The Oxford Internet Institute and DAB member, said government digital channels have typically lagged behind the private sector and citizen expectations.

“GDS is doing lots of new things trying to get a government online presence in front of people. And if it is going to do that, then government online has to look like other [online channels].” Board members such as Facebook’s Allan should encourage the uptake of government digital services, she said.

But she said the key challenge would be getting the rest of government on-board. “It will be a question of inspiring departments to see that they can’t make the savings they need to unless they move to digital.”

Other members of the Digital Advisory Board will include James Bilefield, from Condé Nast International; Tim Brooks of The Knowledge Engineers; Brian McBride, MX Data; Kip Meek, Everything Everywhere; and Will Perrin, Talk About Local.

The news comes as Lane Fox launched Go On UK earlier this week, a cross-sector partnership to help increase the number of people and organisations using the internet. Go On UK will have a broader remit than previous initiative Race Online 2012, and promote online channels to small businesses, following research which found that just 14% of SME had online channels.

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Joining us on our social networks means that if we win the Lotto, we will share it all with our followers on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.