IT workers are in increasing demand across Essex and businesses are struggling to fill vacancies. Latest figures from the Business Register and Employment Survey indicate the boom in technology- focused industries continues, irrespective of the performance of other industries. With the economy continuing to improve, the 2015 figures show a 5.8 per cent increase in the number of IT and technical staff in the Eastern region – Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Yet, despite the rise in the number of employees joining the sector, demand continues to far outstrip supply. As companies look to bring in the required technical experience as soon as possible, they are having to show increasing ingenuity and flexibility in using existing personnel resources. The figures also show London continues to dominate the British IT industry, but that Essex is benefitting. The proximity of Essex to the capital’s Clerkenwell areas, a hub for IT development, along with strong communications,, means  considerable amounts of IT work is being outsourced to the county. The opening of Crossrail in 2018 is expected to add considerably to this flow. Farida Gibbs, CEO and Founder at Gibbs S3, hybrid IT consulting and staffing solutions company, said: “These figures shouldn’t come as a surprise, yet not enough is being done to address the lack of Stem (science , technology, engineering and mathematics) and IT candidates. “Companies are finding it harder and harder to get the right candidates and it is costing the British economy millions in missed opportunities and unrealised growth. “So many businesses are running under-staffed teams, unable to find the required skills to meet the demands of today’s market.” She advises that key technical information is spread around a number of members of staff. “There are a lot of CEOs who are terrified of the fact that the one person who can operate the database may decide to leave. Yet they have made no move to distribute that knowledge.”