It’s no secret that the UK tech sector has seen strong growth in recent years. But what may surprise many is that, when it comes to tech jobs, there’s been particularly strong growth in local government.
In fact, according to the recent Tech Nation 2016 report from Tech City UK, the public sector is currently the top employer of digital talent in the UK. And this need for talent is only growing, with a staggering 90% growth rate in online recruitment for public sector IT and digital jobs in the past three years.
What all this means is that a real war for skilled talent is emerging, affecting both the private and public sector.
For many local government IT departments looking to recruit the tech talent needed for digital transformation, the prospect of competing with exciting startups and high-street brands may seem daunting. But I don’t think it has to be. Personally, I believe that when it comes to recruiting young digital talent, local government has an opportunity to set itself apart from its private sector competitors.
Why? Well, I believe local government can offer emerging talent experiences that private sector organisations can’t.
What millennials want
Millennials, aged 18 to 34, are well on the way to making up the majority of the workforce.
There’s been a lot of analysis done on them, but for me, there’s always one characteristic that sets this generation apart: millennials are generally motivated by more than their pay cheque. They want to feel they are giving back to their communities and contributing to a greater good. Work, for this generation, isn't just about earning a crust; their job satisfaction is based on a wide range of factors.
According to research company Achieve, 84% of millennials make charitable donations and 70% volunteer. What’s more, according to the 2016 Deloitte Millennial Study, among the factors a candidate weighs up before accepting a job, a ‘sense of meaning from my work’ and ‘the impact it has on society’ are both ranked in the top six.
The attraction of local government
It seems to me that tech jobs in the public sector offer some of the most exciting opportunities for giving back to the community and making a difference to people’s lives.
Think about how digitising the healthcare system can improve the care of housebound patients while also cutting costs. Or, how creating a connected transportation system can not only help local businesses thrive, but also create local jobs and improve the opportunities available to those who live in the area.
Local governments in particular are able to offer tech jobs that provide workers with opportunities to improve the lives of everyday citizens in their communities. For example, colleagues of mine working in local authorities have made essential services much easier to access by creating simple online forms, while others have built apps that help social workers deliver better services to their clients. These types of jobs also offer the opportunity to unlock operational efficiencies so that a council can allocate more resources to improving front-line services.
Of course, public sector IT isn’t all plain sailing. Moving from decades-old legacy systems to cloud-based solutions and open-source values is no easy task. Neither is driving the cultural change that goes hand-in-hand with tech change: I won’t pretend that getting people across the organisation to embrace innovation and new ways of working is a walk in the park.
But the rewards for those involved in these projects are huge, saving local citizens millions and improving their lives in very tangible ways. To me, this sounds like exactly the kind of job satisfaction millennials are looking for – these challenges are actually opportunities for positive change.
In the quest to attract the best talent and support digitisation, local government should not shy away from highlighting the chance to make a real difference in our communities. For tech talent – particularly younger workers – these jobs offer some of the most personally rewarding employment out there, across any sector.
To me, this says that now is the moment for local authorities to go for the talent that will help drive their digital transformations.
Andrew Lawson is UK&I managing director and SVP North Europe, Middle East & Africa at Salesforce.