Public sector faces shortfall of IT specialists

The public sector is facing a massive shortage of IT specialists, experts have warned.

Major projects such as the NHS National Programme for IT and the Ministry of Defence’s 10-year, £4bn Defence Information Infrastructure project have made the public sector an attractive prospect for IT specialists in recent years, according to recruitment firm Greythorn IT.

But the buoyant public sector market has been usurped by the recent IT boom in commerce and industry.

“Some of the very largest projects have attracted extremely talented IT specialists from the private sector, because of their high profile and the technical challenges involved,” said Mark Verghese, director of Greythorn.

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“However, the bad publicity about overspends has meant that there is now increasing pressure from the government to keep project costs down, and that’s likely to mean less interesting work and reduced rates of pay, which in turn will make the whole arena less attractive to the best people.”