Nearly a quarter of businesses are losing more than £100,000 a year to IT skills shortage

Rising costs of people and technology driving many businesses to adopt managed services.

  • Tuesday, 31st October 2023 Posted 2 years ago in by Phil Alsop

Nearly a quarter of IT decision-makers (22%) estimate IT skills shortages are costing their business more than £100,000 a year in recruitment fees, temporary staffing, increased salaries and investment in lower-level employees to bring them up to speed over time.

As the skills shortage worsens, over three-quarters of respondents polled (77%) say their organisation’s IT recruitment costs have increased over the past three years, and nearly half (45%) say costs have risen by more than 10%. These are among the headline findings of new research by Symatrix, which polled 200 IT decision-makers working for large businesses.

The problem has been exacerbated by large numbers of vacancies, many of which stay open for long periods. 27% of companies take more than two months to fill a vacancy today, which is up on the figure for two years ago.

More than a third (36%) of businesses that manage at least part of their IT systems themselves are spending more than £250,000 a month on managing IT systems in-house, with 90% admit that a managed services approach would save them money. 61% believe they could save more than £50,000 per year.

Charles Courquin, Sales Director, Symatrix commented: “Businesses must now look externally to help address the IT skills shortage and stem the significant financial losses being incurred. Managed services involve proactive support to organisations to understand their changing requirements and help drive value from their investments, helping to fill the gaps that persist in-house.”

The survey also highlights how adopting a managed services approach can deliver the IT cost savings that businesses are crying out for. 38% of those who have adopted managed services estimate to have saved more than £100,000 a year, and it is even the case that many of those businesses that are not using managed services today see the cost benefits of doing so.

61% of organisations currently running their IT fully in-house believe they could save more than £50,000 per year if they were to use a managed services provider, and 90% believe it would save them money.

Opting for a managed services approach effectively guarantees ROI, according to the survey results. When asked about their previous experience with enterprise software, all respondents that were using managed services only had achieved a return on their investment and a higher proportion of those respondents also recorded a ROI inside a year, compared to those managing fully in-house.

Aruba has joined the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) to support the development of...
NinjaOne Backup is gaining traction for its integrated IT management approach, offering backup...
Ping Identity has received the 2026 Google Cloud Security Partner of the Year Award for Identity &...
CrowdStrike has expanded its Cloud Detection and Response capabilities with integration into Google...
Bitdefender has launched GravityZone Extended Email Security, combining email and endpoint...
A study reveals vulnerabilities in UK commerce, putting £1.7 billion in annual sales at risk due...
Obrela's latest report sheds light on a more sophisticated cyber threat environment, highlighting...
Extreme Networks reports growing adoption of Platform ONE, with customers using its AI-driven model...