The BCS said that this was well below the level of representation that could be considered “normal” and warned that it was an indicator of the digital skills gap – the lack of working-age people with sufficient digital skills to meet demand from employers – and the need for over-50s to reskill.
If representation of over-50s in the IT sector was equal to the levels seen in other sectors, there would be an extra 119,000 IT specialists in the UK in this age group (480,000 in total), the study estimated.
The BCS, which charters IT professionals, said the need for digital skills has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic as more firms relied on remote working, placing greater reliance on their IT departments.
“The figure for over-50s working in IT is significantly lower than in other sectors, but government plans – recently outlined in the Queen’s Speech – to introduce a Lifetime Skills Guarantee is a significant step towards addressing the digital skills...