The demands of the IT employment market are not being met by today’s education system, according to research from recruitment specialist Robert Half Technology UK.

According to the research, 92% of CIOs believe that the IT education provided by colleges, universities and technical schools doesn’t meet the demands of the employment market. The poll found that the biggest area of concern among CIOs is IT security, with 59% saying that this is one of the critical areas that IT educators need to focus on. The next most urgent areas for enhancement are digitization at 23%, business intelligence at 20% and software/application development at 18%.

The Robert Half research also points to figures from education campaigners, Your Life, which show that 40,000 STEM jobs are left vacant each year.

“While businesses are urgently trying to reskill their employees through internal training and development programmes, the root cause of the current skills gap lies much deeper,” said Phil Sheridan, senior managing director, Robert Half UK, South America and the Middle East. “Recent graduates, particularly in STEM subjects, are already lacking vital skills that UK organisations desperately need.”

“Technology is changing so rapidly that it is little surprise that education providers are struggling to teach their students skills that will still be relevant when they reach the workplace,” Sheridan said.