E-skills NTO, the National Training Organisation's IT training group, has launched a new skills framework that may standardise job descriptions. The group said the objective was to make it easier to hire staff.

Patricia Hewitt, trade and industry secretary and ex-minister for ecommerce, expressed enthusiasm for the idea.

"I am delighted by this announcement. The framework is good news for business and for individuals in tackling information and communications technology [ICT] skill needs."

The Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) is a classification framework that uses simple descriptions to enable the measurement and benchmarking of ICT capabilities within organisations.

Gordon Greaves, SFIA project director, said there was a proven need within the industry for such an initiative. "There are lots of titles and lots of jobs within IT, but no one knows what they all mean. We need a common language," he explained.

Greaves added that the classification system would assist companies when they recruit new IT staff, because it provides a good way of defining technical experience.

"A programmer might have Java experience, but what type? It could be in a creative way or using it in order to solve business problems," said Greaves.

He maintained that the SFIA would also help firms to keep staff, and could improve morale because it would enable employees to identify the skills they need to gain promotion.

Greaves pointed out that technical staff could see a list of which skills were appropriate for which job, and then train accordingly. Another bonus for staff was that the skills framework would solve the problem of having over qualified staff in unsuitable roles.

John Eary, head of skills consultancy NCC, said: "We now use the SFIA and are finding it a useful tool. It is a clear way of differentiating the responsibilities that exist within an IT function."

Separately, Home Secretary David Blunkett is to further simplify the UK work permit system as part of the government's plans to address the skills shortage.

Blunkett insisted that discussions would begin soon with industry and employers' organisations, with a view to identifying problem areas.