You could be forgiven for having mixed feelings about the digital economy in the UK. Debate around London in particular – the centre for internet and tech start-ups – is characterised by claims of a media-generated bubble, with hip staff enjoying the glory of these start-up companies.
And according to some commentators, the UK lacks the funding, investment and talent that Silicon Valley endlessly enjoys.
But if the recent research from CBI and KPMG is anything to go by, it’s the tech sector that’s tipped to drive growth for our slow-recovering economy. The fact £12 billion is expected to be pumped into the capital’s economy over the next 10 years only highlights how things are changing for London.
Tech City UK’s chairwoman Joanna Shields OBE, recently said she believes London is a ‘digital powerhouse’ and that the tech sector is playing a critical role in helping the economy to recover – after all it has been responsible for creating almost 30 per cent of new jobs.
There was more positive news this week for tech when it was revealed digital industries have a smaller gender pay gap than the UK norm. According to a recent survey, the pay gap between men and women was only four per cent, compared to the 19 per cent norm across the UK – bravo tech!
But despite the good news, women are still under represented in tech, only making up 10 per cent of the digital workforce. But to counterbalance that, the same survey also found that job satisfaction levels were higher in women than in men – with 78 per cent and 71 per cent claiming they were ‘satisfied’ respectively.
In East London there is no shortage of opportunities for the tech community to blossom and learn from each other, and it will be exciting to see what will be achieved through innovation and growth by the capital’s most exciting sector.
