The ability to fulfil the key IT skill requirements being sought by business could be better suited to women than men, according to experts.

Business skills top the list of the five most sought-after skills for permanent workers cited by respondents to a survey by recruitment group Computer People. A separate report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said that 51 per cent of employers want to see staff better trained in softer skills such as communications, teamwork and leadership.

And these are exactly the kind of skills that women can offer the industry, said Marilyn Davidson, director of the Association of Technology Staffing Companies.
“It is widely agreed that women generally have better empathetic communication skills and find these roles easier.

“The communication skills women possess should mean they are particularly well suited to technical roles that involve interaction ­ and can be more so than men, because the chances are that women will display more empathy in their communication skills,” she said.

Nick Dettmar, managing director at Computer People, said: “Women are doing particularly well in business-related roles in IT. We think it is because of the higher level of interaction.”

"While the number of women entering IT is not growing, they are doing better in certain areas."

Finding and retaining high-calibre staff is a burden for companies. But only nine per cent would resort to hiring less-qualified staff, while 62 per cent said flexible working offers could help overcome recruitment difficulties, according to the EIU global survey of nearly 1,000 executives in developing and mature markets.

And it seems that employers are not listening to their staff. Computer People’s survey of 100 companies and 5,000 IT professionals found that 60 per cent of employers do not know why staff are leaving, compared with an average of 48 per cent across all sectors. Departing employees said their key motivations were career development and job satisfaction.

“Employers use cheaper forms of advertising such as their web sites or local press. But employees look in specific trade press and niche publications,” said Dettmar.