labour market
Study: Shortage of skilled workers in IT professions reaches record levels
The increasing expansion of the digital infrastructure in all sectors of the economy is increasing the need for qualified specialists in the industry, report the Kofa experts. photo
© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
The need for skilled workers in the IT industry is growing. But there is still a lack of qualified personnel. With a view to the universities, experts fear that the problem could increase.
The shortage of skilled workers in IT professions reached a new record level in Germany last year. Overall, there were an average of 67,924 vacancies in the field of information technology nationwide in 2022 – more than ever since the beginning of the observation period in 2010, the competence center for securing skilled workers (Kofa) of the employer-related Institute of German Economy (IW) reported on Thursday. At the same time, there were only 27,136 unemployed with an IT qualification.
The increasing expansion of the digital infrastructure in all sectors of the economy is increasing the need for qualified specialists in the industry, reported the Kofa experts. Since 2015, not all jobs in IT professions can be filled with qualified unemployed people. During the corona pandemic, there was a temporary decrease in the number of vacancies. But the number has been increasing significantly since 2021.
According to the study, the lack of experts with a university degree is particularly great. There was a shortage of almost 34,000 skilled workers last year alone. According to Kofa, there were no suitably qualified unemployed for eight out of ten vacancies at this qualification level.
The Kofa experts emphasized that this gap cannot be closed in the short to medium term even by graduates. Since the number of students in the fields of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology has decreased in recent years in the first university semesters, a further decrease in the number of graduates is to be expected.
In this situation, one way for companies to combat the shortage of skilled workers in the IT sector is to recruit skilled workers from abroad. A promising strategy is also to give career changers from other professional groups and climbers from lower qualification levels a chance.