Digital Tech Trends for 2022

IFB and Friends look forward to 2022

On 15th December we held our final webinar of the year, wrapping up 2021 and looking forward to 2022 - covering all things digital tech with a festive movie twist, hosted by IFB’s CEO Graeme Gordon and contributions from friends of IFB.

Graeme took the audience through the key digital tech trends for 2022 including workplace and space, connectivity, cyber security, telecoms, cloud, hardware, data and skills - using the classic ‘The Wizard of Oz’ festive movie as a theme for our December webinar.

Thanks to all those who attended and if you missed it, you can watch below as well as read expert views contributed below from FG Burnett’s Graeme Watt and TMM Recruitment’s Jude Thorpe.

We’ll be holding our next webinar in early February and hope to see you there!

Skills – expert view – Judith Thorpe ​

Jude Thorpe, the Judy Garland at recruitment specialists TMM Recruitment said the last year had all been like a bad dream but she saw hope at the end of the rainbow for a better year ahead that will be full of technicolour!

Despite desperately difficult pandemic circumstances and working through economic challenges job vacancies are at a record high in the “Granite” City, with the number of online job postings doubling over the last year. Start-ups to international companies express concern about skills shortages which have been exacerbated in some sectors by EU workers who decided “there was no place like home”.

With a new variant in the Land of Oz it’s hard to know how things will develop but for now the Good Witch has no plans to reinstate COVID restrictions. So our advice is:

If you’re recruiting, plan ahead and don’t skip along the yellow brick road hoping that the Wizard of Oz will magic up the skilled people your business needs. Take heart, be courageous and hire on a permanent basis if you can because there are very few candidates immediately available or interested in short term contracts. Consider how you can make your working pattern more attractive to candidates, and review your benefits programmes as everyone knows taking Toto to work is a mood lifter.

If you’re a job seeker, think carefully about your career decisions, don’t jump for the first opportunity or be seduced by counter-offers that mean you can buy expensive red shoes. There are monkeys out there that just want to fill jobs. Make the right move for you by discussing culture, aspirations and challenge. And for the munchkins who don’t stay in touch, ghost or bail at the last minute – remember there’s no crystal ball and we don’t know what will happen next in the job market. Employers have a long memory so stay professional, don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.

We know there’s the brains to make a managed transition from the Granite to the Emerald City and we have to believe we have the skills to fulfil our wish of a net zero future. But tornados and storms wreak havoc and show us that a mix of energy sources and advances in technology are required along the yellow brick road to low carbon.

Office space – Expert view – FG Burnett ​

Graeme Watt Director in charge of Industrial space at FG Burnett said the path along the yellow brick road towards the emerald city is fraught with junctions, the latest and most pertinent of which, from an office occupation perspective is the hybrid / home working junction. I have yet to be convinced you can physically reach the ultimate destination of the emerald city if you turn back to Kansas two days a week -  well maybe virtually you can but I am not sure which direction is less wicked east or west. As we emerge (hopefully) again from the pandemic, the preferred direction of travel will become clear ……!!.

From an industrial property perspective, there will always be a need for supplies and maintenance along the journey on the yellow brick road and thus industrial space will be required en route. This need is arguably more certain than the need for offices but like the tin man, these spaces will need to be oiled to ensure they remain functional and fit for purpose in 2022, including enhancing their energy performance over time, as we transition to net zero.

Brains and courage, not to mention innovation and a click of the heels will be required to find the prize at the end of, or over the rainbow but in 2022’s terms, is that still, to some extent, a pot of (black) gold – time and the machinations of those in Edinburgh and Westminster, will tell !!

There is no doubt industry in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire still has a viable future and from a property perspective, I am keen to support all efforts to ensure that outcome is achieved –after all, as an Aberdonian,  there is no place like home !!