TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, said today that skill shortages in the games industry had lessened but remained a challenge for developers.
TIGA made the comments following publication of a new report, Games Businesses, Education and Skills (May 2010), which includes the results of a survey of 78 game developers. The Report was supported by Train2Game, the open learning providers for the games industry.
TIGA’s research revealed that 43 per cent of game developers found it difficult to fill vacancies. This compares to a figure of 65 per cent when TIGA conducted similar research in 2008. Job losses in the games industry over the last two years have temporarily suppressed – but not eliminated – skill shortages in the game sector.
97 per cent of those games developers suffering from skill shortages believe that the main reason is a shortage of applicants with the required skills, experience or qualifications.
Skill gaps, although they exist, are not an acute problem for the UK games industry. Developers believe that, on average, 86 per cent of their workforce are fully proficient at their jobs.
Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, said:
“Skill shortages remain a problem for UK games developers, although the problem is less acute than in 2008. Vacancies for programmers, designers, managers and project managers are particularly hard to fill. However, games businesses are ameliorating the problem by adopting new recruitment methods, outsourcing work, making internal promotions and redefining job roles.
“Games businesses are also investing in workforce development. 91 per cent of UK game developers provide at least some form of training for their staff. On average, game developers in our survey spend 6 per cent of turnover on skills and training.
“TIGA is working to reduce skill shortages in three ways. We provide quality information to enable our members to benchmark their investment in workforce development. We work with T2G and with our FE and university members to enhance courses and to increase the supply of potential employees for the industry. We seek to persuade governments and parliaments in the UK to make sensible investments in education and skills.
“On the policy side, TIGA has advocated a range of measures to address skills shortages, including: competitively priced tuition fees for students studying mathematics and computer science degrees, to incentivise the study of these courses; increased investment in higher education to ensure that UK universities remain internationally competitive; and increasing the supply of good quality mathematics and science teachers in schools through the provision of incentives such as bursaries, ‘golden hellos’ and writing off of student loans.””
Philip Oliver, CEO of Blitz Studios, said:
“Skill shortages remain a challenge for the UK video games sector. Skill shortages effectively increase the workload on existing development staff and can restrict future business opportunities and growth.
“However, the UK games industry is making real progress in addressing the problem. TIGA and its members are creating links between developers and educational providers and so are continually improving the quality of games courses in the UK.
“Blitz has long been involved in education outreach activities, strengthening links between games developers and education providers. When financial conditions improve, we believe that the new Government should consider the introduction of a pilot SME Training Tax Relief. This tax measure would operate in a similar way to the existing R&D tax credits. SMEs would be able to offset expenditure on training, Continuous Professional Development for staff and education outreach activities against corporation tax.””