Two thirds of businesses are struggling to hire talent for the internet of things

Research from Canonical shows businesses are battling with drought in the “Internet of Talent” pool

Businesses are struggling to recruit employees with the skills needed to make the internet of things a success according to a new IoT Business Models report from Canonical – the makers of the IoT operating system, Ubuntu Core.

The report, which includes research from over 360 IoT professionals, developers and vendors found that 68 per cent are struggling to find and recruit employees with relevant IoT expertise.

According to Canonical’s research, the most difficult to hire IoT employees are those with knowledge of big data and analytics, with 35 per cent of IoT professionals saying they struggle to recruit this skillset. Knowledge of big data and analytics was also identified as the most important skillset for IoT professionals, with 75 per cent deeming it a necessity for anyone claiming to be an IoT expert.

The next most hard to find skillsets for IoT professionals are knowledge of embedded software development (33 per cent), embedded electronics (32 per cent), expertise in IT security (31 per cent) and an understanding of artificial intelligence (30 per cent).

Required for an IoT expert: in per cent	Knowledge areas / expertise	Difficult to hire in per cent:
75	Data analytics and big data	35
71	Embedded software development	33
68	IT security	31
64	Embedded electronics	32
61	Cloud software development	17
45	Automation	14
44	Cloud management	10
40	Artificial intelligence	30
21	Robotics	13

Commenting on these findings, Mike Bell, EVP of IoT and Devices at Canonical said, “When it comes to the internet of things, the business community is still overcoming a significant skills gap. Many businesses are concerned by their own lack of knowledge and skills within the IoT market and many business leaders are finding themselves running head first into a set of technology and business challenges that they do not yet fully understand.

“Businesses need to realise that working in IoT should not require such an extensive variety of skills. What is needed, instead, is a simplification of the technologies behind IoT. Within the next five years we expect to see IoT technologies built into all aspects of the business environment. As edge computing brings connected intelligence directly to the shop floor, cloud computing will continue to drive back-end processes across the entire supply chain, for example. With all business processes growing increasingly connected, their supporting IoT technologies must be easy enough for anyone to manage, monitor and use – regardless of their background knowledge or personal skillset.

“Above all, businesses must be agile when it comes to deciding on the ‘right’ people, skills and team to take them forward. What is decided upon today, is unlikely to remain the same in even one or two years, so constantly evaluating what change is needed and being able to execute this quickly is a must.”

To find out more about the IoT skills gap, download Canonical’s Defining IoT business models report.