More and more IT positions remain unfilled

There are now 96,000 jobs to be filled. Start-ups in particular urgently need software specialists etc. The Bitkom association wants to improve the situation through training, the advancement of women and qualified immigration.

The economy is increasingly lacking staff to take care of digital processes. A study by Bitkom, the industry association for the German information and telecommunications sector, shows that The number of vacancies for IT specialists has risen to 96,000 across all sectors in 2021. That is 12 percent more than in the previous year. At that time, 86,000 jobs were already unfilled.

At the end of 2021, two thirds of the companies surveyed (65%) were struggling with a shortage of IT specialists. Start-ups in particular are often unable to offer employees as good conditions as large companies. This makes it even more difficult for young companies to find suitable staff. At the same time, they often need digital workers particularly urgently. Meanwhile, IT experts are in such high demand that they can often choose their job relatively freely. Software specialists, IT project managers and coordinators, IT application managers and IT administrators are particularly sought after.

An improvement in the personnel situation is apparently not in sight: 66% of companies expect the shortage of IT specialists to become even more acute in the future. In addition to better training and further education, Bitkom is therefore calling for attention to be paid to strengthening women in the IT sector and promoting qualified immigration.

The study is based on a representative survey of more than 850 companies from all sectors. It has been conducted regularly since 2011. Since then, the number of vacant jobs has only been higher once than last year: in the pre-corona year 2019, there was a gap of 124,000 unfilled positions.