Tech is the most popular sector for UK career switchers

Chances are if you're reading this you already work in the tech sector. If you don't then a new study suggests you might well want to.

The Great Resignation has been driven by a desire for change across industries and research from telecoms company BT shows that 69 percent of UK employees would consider a career change if given the opportunity, and 18 percent want to switch to tech.

The next most popular sectors are health (17 percent) and finance (10 percent). However, it seems people only want to work in tech once they're made aware of it. Before being told more about the sector, only four percent of UK adults would consider cyber as an alternative industry, this reduces to as little as one percent among females.

It's not a big surprise to find that the industry is still seen as male-dominated. When asked to describe a cybersecurity professional, over half (54 percent) said male, compared to 18 percent who said female.

The perception of the job is that it's too technical (32 percent), with little understanding of how other soft skills could be applicable (45 percent).

To support people wanting to make the move BT has launched a first-of-its-kind 16-week reskilling program, in collaboration with training organization CAPSLOCK, to help tackle the shortfall of people with cybersecurity skills and continue its commitment to investing in its people. The initiative will see BT employees from across its Consumer and Global divisions supported as they make bold changes to their career path through being reskilled and placed into crucial cybersecurity roles, all while retaining their pay packet.

Jamie, a former call center team leader is one of 30 BT employees that have started the online course, "I'd never even considered a role in cybersecurity before discussing the reskilling programme with a colleague. I never went to university so I didn't feel like I had the right educational background and couldn't imagine how I'd get my foot in the door of a job like this. Being able to reskill and make that jump to future-proof my career is a chance to reach my full potential."

You can find out more about the initiative on the BT site.

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