Skills shortage - 149,000 unfilled IT jobs in Germany - record high
Never before have so many IT specialists been sought in the German economy as this year. According to the digital association Bitkom, the number of vacancies rose to a new record high of 149,000.
The shortage of IT specialists in Germany exists regardless of the economic cycle and is "a systemic problem for the German economy", said Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst at the presentation of Bitkom's annual labor market study. "Too few skilled workers and too much regulation are slowing down digital Germany," said Wintergerst.
In a survey in which the managers of 854 companies with three or more employees in Germany were interviewed by telephone, only two percent said that the supply of IT specialists on the labor market was sufficient. A year ago, this figure was still eight percent. At the same time, 70 percent spoke of a shortage of IT specialists.
Study: No improvement expected
According to the study, which is representative of the German economy as a whole, the vast majority of companies do not expect the situation to improve. Only three percent expect the shortage to decrease (2022: 2 percent). A large majority, on the other hand, see a bleak outlook: 77% fear that even more positions cannot be filled (2022: 70%).
The problems on the labor market are now being felt in many companies. Six out of ten companies (60%) report that vacancies for IT specialists are slower to fill than other jobs: on average, vacancies remain unfilled for 7.7 months. A year ago, the figure was 7.1 months.
Qualifications differ significantly
The IT specialists who end up in companies have very different qualifications. Almost half (44%) have completed dual training in a company and at a university. 16 percent come from a traditional university degree course, and there are just as many specialists who have dropped out of university (17 percent). The group of career changers is becoming increasingly important. They fill almost one in four positions (23 percent).
A slight downward trend in the number of computer science students has been halted since 2019. Bitkom referred to figures from Destatis, according to which 72,389 first-year students were registered at German universities in 2022. In the same year, the number of degrees rose by a good seven percent to 34,385.
Companies had high hopes for the Skilled Immigration Act introduced in 2020, which was intended to facilitate the influx of foreign skilled workers. This is an issue for one in five companies: eight percent have tried to specifically recruit IT specialists from abroad. 14 percent say that they plan to do so. When asked about possible obstacles, three quarters of companies complain about a lack of information and 67% about the bureaucratic effort involved in recruiting. The recruited skilled workers also report bureaucratic hurdles (80 percent). In addition, 62 percent say that racism is a problem.
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- The record high of 149,000 IT job vacancies in Germany, as reported by Bitkom, the digital association, is a cause for concern in the information technology sector.
- Ralf Wintergerst, President of Bitkom, stated that the shortage of IT specialists in Germany is a systemic problem, exacerbated by a lack of skilled workers and excessive regulation.
- In a survey conducted by Bitkom, only 2% of German companies with three or more employees believed that the supply of IT specialists on the labor market was sufficient, a significant decrease from the previous year's 8%.
- The study, which is representative of the German economy as a whole, predicted that the situation would not improve, with only 3% expecting the shortage to decrease.
- The shortage of IT specialists is affecting many German companies, with 60% reporting that vacancies for IT positions take longer to fill compared to other jobs.
- Telecommunications companies in Berlin, Germany, are particularly affected by the shortage of skilled workers in the IT sector, as they compete with other sectors for a limited pool of specialists.
- To address the ongoing shortage of IT specialists in Germany, Ralf Wintergerst of Bitkom suggested a need for policy changes to encourage more IT education and make it easier for foreign IT specialists to work in Germany, citing bureaucratic hurdles and racism as obstacles.
Source: www.stern.de
