The Digital Skills Festival - organised by independent digital trade association Manchester Digital - will take place in the city 14 - 17 February. The aim is to promote Manchester as a thriving digital hub and help the region’s businesses recruit and retain talent. In 2016 more than 1,200 students attended the event looking for opportunities in development, design, project management, digital marketing etc.
Katie Gallagher, managing director at Manchester Digital, said: “The North West has a thriving and talented digital industry, but it has now reached the point where demand is far outstripping the supply of services. Our annual skills audit has already highlighted the genuine struggle companies face in filling the growing number of vacancies, and it is essential we expand the talent pool as much as possible to ensure the digital sector continues its upward trajectory.”
A Digital Skills Conference will take place on the first day of the festival, from 10am to 4.30pm at Manchester Town Hall. This year the focus will be on what colleges and universities should be doing to ensure a large and diverse talent pool is available for the digital sector. It is free and open to everyone.
The conference will also serve as a platform for the release of the organisation’s 2017 ‘Digital Skills Audit’ results, following on from last year’s survey, which found that nearly two in five digital businesses based in the North had turned away work due to a lack of resources.
The 2016 audit also found:
- 65% of businesses had struggled to fill developer based roles in the last year
- 44% of businesses had been forced to inflate salaries to compete for the best talent
A Talent Day, which takes place on 15 February, from 11.30am to 3pm, will focus on providing students and digital workers with available career opportunities and a chance to network with innovative businesses in the region. Only Manchester Digital members can exhibit.