According to data published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), the number of firms reporting trouble filling their ICT vacancies has steadily increased over the past few years, but the situation is particularly acute in the Czech Republic. Photo: Freepik.
Czech Rep., Feb 24 (BD) – In 2019, 58% of businesses (excluding the financial sector) in the EU had trouble recruiting ICT employees. In the Czech Republic, this figure rose to 80%, second in the EU only to Romania, with 90%. For Romanian businesses, this is the first year that they have experienced such trouble meeting the demand for ICT recruits, but it has been a consistent issue in the Czech Republic since 2012.
The Czech Republic has reported a higher than average percentage of firms struggling to fill ICT vacancies since 2012, and from 2015 on has ranked either first or second in the EU in this respect. Other countries that have faced long-term problems filling their ICT vacancies are Austria and briefly Luxembourg from 2012 to 2015.
In 2019, small businesses in the Czech Republic with 10-49 employees had the most trouble filling their ICT vacancies, whereas in the whole EU it was mostly larger firms experiencing this problem.
These problems are arising due to the fact that the ICT sector is growing more rapidly than the workforce can adapt to; in 2020, the European labour market is projected to add over 670,000 new ICT jobs.
This increase in demand has consequently led to higher salaries. According to the ICT Czech Alliance, a Junior IT professional with minimum experience earns CZK 2,500 more per month than the average Czech worker, whereas a senior IT professional can expect to earn up to around CZK 100,000.
