Berlin (Reuters) – In Germany, after a temporary easing in the coronavirus pandemic and despite significantly increased salaries, the shortage of IT specialists is increasing again.
Companies across all industries are currently missing 137,000 IT experts, more than ever before, after 96,000 in 2021. This is the result of a study by the digital association Bitkom, published in Berlin on Wednesday, which surveyed 854 companies. “The shortage of IT specialists is becoming increasingly difficult for companies and will get dramatically worse in the coming years,” said Bitkom President Achim Berg. On average, vacancies currently remain unfilled for more than seven months.
In the survey, 74 percent of the companies spoke of a bottleneck, after 65 percent in 2021. 70 (2021: 66) percent expect the situation to get worse. Bitkom estimates the potential that could be filled in Germany with IT experts from Russia and Belarus at 59,000 positions. According to their own statements, 37 percent of the companies with a need in the IT area would use this if the people had previously undergone an official security check. However, only one in 100 companies has already used this method. Eleven percent said they had concrete plans, but failed because of bureaucratic hurdles after the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Berg said the goal shouldn’t be to poach Ukrainian IT professionals. Otherwise, that would weaken the country, which is not what is wanted. “It’s different in Russia.” Germany should permanently recruit and integrate IT experts from Russia and Belarus after a security check. In principle, immigration in this area should be made easier. Because in 2021 only a good 72,000 people in this country would have taken up computer science studies, 3,000 fewer than in 2020. Less than half also complete their studies.
88 percent of companies called for more immigration of skilled workers from politicians. Berg said work experience must be considered in the IT field as well as formal degrees. Knowledge of German is also not decisive.
(Report by Christian Krämer, edited by Myria Mildenberger. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at [email protected] (for politics and the economy) or [email protected] (for companies and markets).)