The skills shortage in the IT industry has again been pushed into the limelight by a series of reports which claim that the health of businesses is likely to become seriously affected in the next few years due to recruitment problems.

Newbury-based consultancy Xephon says that many businesses believe IT will determine more and more of the future direction of companies due to the rise of e-commerce.

78 percent of 72 companies surveyed said that staffing was a serious issue. The reports author says that 'IT chiefs are coping with ever-accelerating technological and business change with fewer top class staff and a relatively static budget'.

Expanding further on the topic, Elliot Masie's TechLearn Trends highlights a number of key concepts likely to characterise the IT worker of the future:

• The IT worker will need excellent business skills as well as technical skills
  
• The IT worker will require cross-platform and 'multi-vendor' sets of skills, combining vendor certifications with portfolios of experience
  
• The IT worker will need a high "learning capability" - their ability to rapidly and continuously learn new skills and technologies
  
• The IT worker will more likely work in a business unit rather than an IT department
  
• The IT worker will more likely work with media objects (e.g.. audio and video) rather than just database text and numbers
  
• The IT worker will get the majority of their IT Skills from a source other than a university or college
  
• Finally, the IT Worker will definitely NOT be called an IT worker
  

It's probable however that the increasing demands and requirements which will be made of the IT specialist as a result of the increasing importance of technology in the workplace will simply make it more difficult to find those staff who are able to provide a rounded set of skills and knowledge, thus exacerbating the skills shortage further.