Three ways for EU companies to grow the ICT workforce

Demand for ICT workers outstrips supply in the EU, a recent report suggests. Shortages in this sector rose along with remote working in the COVID-19 pandemic and forecasts indicate demand will continue to grow, says the Eurofound report ‘Measures to tackle labour shortages: lessons for future policy’. That limits productivity, innovation and competitiveness across economies. From Austria and Germany to Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Portugal and beyond, studies have repeatedly found a growing shortfall in the number of qualified staff available to take jobs in this sector. Women in particular are underrepresented in the industry.

Here are three key ways EU companies and organisations are working to bring more people into this sector.

Bring more women into the workforce

Austria: training women in shortage occupations, including digital. Austria’s Women in Crafts and Technology (FiT) programme enables women to try out and then train for up to four years in skilled trade and technical jobs where they make up less than 40% of the workforce. In 2020, 7 000 unemployed women took part, at a cost of €22.7 million. Support included unemployment benefits, course and childcare costs (varies by region). A 2022 survey of 1 000 participants between 2015 and 2020, found 58% had a job within a month of completing, and incomes rose by between 26% and 36% compared to previously.
Belgium: encouraging disadvantaged women to train in digital. Belgian NGO Interface3 has trained more than 6 000 women in IT and related skills since it was founded in 1987. Participants are typically aged between 20 and 50 with little or no educational qualifications, and are often migrants. It now operates within a wider Women in Digital 2021-2026 national strategy that aims to eliminate the gender gap in the sector. Free training courses are followed by internships, while careers advice and information and awareness days are also held.

Train up unemployed people

France: training NEETs. About two million young people in France were considered NEETs (not in education, employment or training) in 2015. This put them at greater risk of job security, poor mental health and social relationships – and even more so during the pandemic. By 2020, GEN had trained nearly 28 000 disadvantaged young people in digital skills. That year, more than 40% went on to employment and 26% to further training. About 80% of those who went into jobs were still working in ICT three months later.
Portugal: digital skills for regional development. Coding bootcamps (Academia de Código Bootcamps) were launched in Fundão, rural Portugal, between 2017 and 2020 to train unemployed people as computer programmers and attract IT employers to the region. This aimed to retain talent, including younger people, in a low-population region. The camps were initially funded through social investment and interest grew when a large French ICT company opened a centre in Fundão.

Train refugees and migrants

Germany: developing digital skills. Since 2016, the ReDI School of Digital Integration, a non-profit technology school, has trained migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and other vulnerable citizens. By 2022, it had run coding and computer courses for more than 6 300 students, had 40 full-time equivalent staff and worked with a range of volunteers. Income comes from working with the government, corporate and for-profit partners. The organisation has a network of more than 100 partners and a presence in 10 European locations. Developers, engineers, data scientists working for ICT companies in Germany, and founders of start-ups are among its alumni.

For more information, read the full report ‘Measures to tackle labour shortages: lessons for future policy’.

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