Increase in ICT jobs
Digitization leaves a mark on society. Citizens, companies and governments conduct business digitally. In various sectors of the Dutch business community IT professionals are becoming increasingly important. Yet it remains difficult for organizations to fill open IT vacancies. What is the solution to the acute shortage of IT- specialists in the market?
The CBS reports that there are 540.000 ICT professionals on the Dutch labour market, of which 100.000 are women.
In the past two years even more ICT jobs have been created than before the coronavirus crisis. The vacancy rate is highest for the ICT sector: 77 per 1,000 jobs.
The stiff competition from large tech companies and the tightness in the labor market make it difficult for companies to find (young) IT professionals. Research by the Training Fund for the ICT Labour Market shows that the demand for IT specialists in the energy, chemical, healthcare and high-tech systems and materials sectors continues to increase, with companies seeing their growth hindered by the shortage of ICT personnel.
Shortage of IT specialists
That many companies are struggling to attract IT specialists is also evident from research by Circle8 among 1,188 Dutch HR (senior) decision-makers. A quarter of respondents state that IT vacancies are currently the most difficult to fill. In addition, two-thirds of those surveyed say that good IT professionals are crucial for their organization. The research also shows that:
● HR managers see a wave in the market in which candidates dare to set ever higher demands (37 percent);
● HR managers see not being able to find suitable IT candidates as one of the biggest threats to their organization (27 percent);
● HR managers see that organizations are struggling with a clear recruitment strategy. More than a quarter of respondents indicate that organizations fall short in this area or even have no clear recruitment strategy for IT professionals (27 percent).
The practice
How can organizations attract the right IT specialists?
Adjust employment conditions
It is important to make the work culture attractive to both young IT talents and older, experienced IT professionals. Adjusting employment conditions is an option. Consider not only a higher salary, but also the secondary employment conditions, such as a good work-life balance or room for side activities such as volunteer work.
Near- and offshoring
It is possible for some organizations to outsource a portion of the work to an organization outside the Netherlands. With nearshoring the work is relocated to neighboring countries such as Poland or Hungary. While with offshoring the helping hand is provided in countries such as India and China. Detachering External hiring is a handy (timely) solution when you as an employer cannot find the right people. It provides room to find the IT professional with the right skills and experience to maintain the continuity of the project.
Secondment
offers the option to search by the right skills and experience. A ‘Managed service provider’ is a more comprehensive form of secondment. In that case a specialized company provides market analyses, identification of opportunities, recruitment, secondment and optimization of the external layer.
Retraining
Due to the digitalization of the labor market certain jobs will disappear. Retraining is a structural solution for the shortage of ICT personnel. Think of retraining jobseekers up to the deployment of mbo-starters. The Human Capital Agenda ICT (HCA ICT) has, together with partners, drawn up a plan to train and retrain more than 36,000 people over four years, with more than 12,000 companies being involved.
