New research has found that there are now 1.4 vacancies for every employee working in the North鈥檚 digital and tech sector.
This underlines the importance for the regional economy of this month鈥檚聽Leeds Digital Job Fair, the event鈥檚 founder Amy De-Balsi has said.
The Northern Digital Jobs Strategy Report, published in January by Tech North and EY, revealed that an average of almost 240,00 digital and tech jobs are being聽advertised in the North each year where there are only around 170,00 suitably skilled workers to fill them.
Alongside the abundance of high-quality聽vacancies on offer, the research also found that digital and tech jobs typically pay 48 per cent more than the median average salary and deliver a higher level of productivity to the economy.
Amy De-Balsi, owner of online jobs board Herd, said that Leeds Digital Job Fair 4.0 has the potential to deliver strong candidates for the many ready-to-fill vacancies in the city.
She said: 鈥淭he Herd job board has more than 1000 digital and tech jobs available in Leeds right now and that number is growing day by day.
鈥淭he Leeds Digital Job Fair 4.0 which will again be held in the main auditorium of the First Direct Arena, also run by Herd, will have 50 exhibitors with over 500 vacancies all available on the day.
鈥淢any of these opportunities will be apprenticeships, enabling people with a keen interest in the digital sector to learn on the job and forge an exciting new career.
鈥淎longside a parade of well-known employers including Sky Betting and Gaming,聽 and Jet2holidays, NHS Digital, cap hpi, DWP Digital, Equifax and Sky, we have scheduled a programme of high level talks from tech industry leaders.
鈥淭here will also be expert advice available from our partners Fruition IT on how to access the best jobs.
鈥淭he research from Tech North and EY found that 58 per cent of digital companies in the North say that finding 鈥榯alent鈥� is a key business challenge. Leeds Digital Job Fair 4.0 will help them to address this.鈥�
One high-profile returnee to the fair is award-winning IT consultancy BJSS which operates offices and project centres across the UK and the United States.
Mike Buck, BJSS Head of Delivery Leeds, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled to be once again supporting the Leeds Digital Job Fair. As Yorkshire鈥檚 biggest tech event, it provides us with an important opportunity to engage with the talented technologists and graduates that are helping Leeds to shape Britain鈥檚 digital future.
鈥淭his year, many of our senior people will be attending the Leeds Digital Job Fair, allowing candidates a unique opportunity to hear about career options at BJSS, understand the innovative tools and techniques that we use, and learn about the exciting projects that we deliver.鈥�
Leeds Digital Job Fair 4.0 will take place on Wednesday 28 February from 3.30-7.30pm, supported by Leeds 老九品茶 Improvement District (LeedsBID), Leeds City Council, Leeds Beckett University and the First Direct Arena.
Job seekers, students, graduates and tech professionals wishing to attend the event can book their place free of charge by visiting www.herd.careers.