New | FDM opens Hong Kong training centre to boost IT skills, women’s participation

A British professional services company that trains graduates in information technology to work as consultants for major companies is expanding its presence in Hong Kong and Asia as it seeks to fill a global skills gap and increase the number of women in the sector.

London-based FDM group gives graduates and women returning to work 16 weeks of IT training ranging from cyber security to application support, an area of importance to its banking clients, which include HSBC, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse in Hong Kong.

The company opened a training centre in Hong Kong at the beginning of the year and will launch another training academy in Singapore next year.

“Worldwide, there is a shortage of IT skills, and if we don’t encourage more women to join the sector then we’re really not helping to reduce the skills gap,” Sheila Flavell, chief operating officer of FDM Group said.

FDM in Hong Kong has recruited 97 trainees this year, with almost 70 per cent coming from local universities, and 28 per cent of recruits are female.

In 2014, women made up 33 per cent of Hong Kong’s first-year undergraduate intake for science, technology and engineering and maths (STEM) degrees, down from 34 per cent in 2013, Education Bureau statistics show.

The city saw 811 people graduate from full-time computer science and information technology undergraduate courses for the 2014/2015 academic year, up from 798 on the previous year.