NCC Members have free access to this Guideline on the Principia website.

The demand for IT or IT-related skills has never been greater at every level of business. According to the IT National Training Organization (ITNTO), 'The use and management of IT has opened up one of the fastest growing job markets of the age'.

The ITNTO makes the familiar distinction between IT use and IT management, but argues particularly that 'the widespread use of PCs in business' has created significant opportunities for new entrants into the job market with computer skills. However, the first report of the National Skills Task Force, published in 1998, commented that: 'In 1997 the annual Skills Needs in Britain (SNIB) Survey found that 1 in 5 employers (employing 25 people or more) thought that there was a skills gap in their employees... The most commonly cited gap was in computer literacy where 55% of those saying they had a gap mentioned this skill'.