YOUNG people are being put off a career in information technology by its "nerdy" image, according to an Oxfordshire computer firm chief.

Potential employees now considered accountancy a "cooler" option than working in hi-tech industry.

Three heads of leading IT companies said that the industry's image "stank" and called for things to change at the grass roots level in a bid to attract more employees.

John Leighfield, the managing director of RM, based at Milton Park, near Abingdon, warned in MicroScope magazine that the industry's image was now so ingrained it could be impossible to change unless more role models, such as Microsoft chief Bill Gates, became "cool". He said: "We can never make information technology cool and it's the same with role models in the industry. Bill Gates is the usual one and I can't think of anyone less cool."

The chief executive of service giant EDS UK Alan Stevens said: "We have lost the battle with accountancy - that has a much better image than we do. People have to recognise that IT is a good area to work in.

"This is particularly true of women: the number in the industry is declining at an alarming rate."

Cap Gemini's UK chief executive Alwyn Welch said the industry should start playing down the role of programmers and developers. Instead, the work of people in management, sales and marketing positions across the industry should be focused on, he said.

"We need to go into competition with other industry sectors and fight for our fair share of good people," he said.

"We must be seen as the industry of choice, so we need to show it's not all just about sitting at a computer all day."

Story date: Wednesday 28 April

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