86,000 vacancies for IT professionals

At the end of 2020, there were 86,000 vacancies for IT experts across all industries. This is the second-highest figure ever measured since the first survey in 2011. Compared to the previous year, the number of vacant positions fell by 31 percent, when a historic high of 124,000 unfilled jobs was recorded. This is the result of the latest study on the labor market for IT professionals by the digital association Bitkom.

It is based on a representative survey of more than 850 managing directors and HR managers in companies from all sectors. According to the survey, seven out of ten (70 percent) are currently experiencing a shortage of IT specialists. In the previous year, the figure was only slightly higher at 83 percent. Six out of ten companies (60 percent) expect the shortage of IT specialists to worsen in the future.

The search for personnel is taking more and more time. On average, it takes six months to fill a vacant IT position, compared with five months two years ago. Almost half of the companies (47 percent) also report that IT jobs are generally slower to fill than other positions.