According to ICT-Formation professionnelle Suisse, there will not be enough new professionals to fill the retirement gap and the increased need for IT specialists, leading to a shortage of more than 24,000 IT specialists in Switzerland by 2024. The shortage will particularly affect senior managers and developers.
Continuous increase in demand for employees
In Switzerland, the number of IT employees continues to grow rapidly. The latest study by the ICT-Vocational Training Switzerland association shows that this field is growing twice as fast as the national average: in 2015, 210,800 jobs were held by IT specialists, 13,000 more than in 2013. 17% of these positions are generalists and 13% are senior managers. Nearly a third of these jobs are for software developers.
The need for developers is reflected in the current job market, says ICT-Vocational Training. In fact, of the 10,000 IT jobs to be filled in Switzerland in July 2016, almost half are developer positions. This is followed by the positions of database and network specialists (12%).
Towards a shortage of 24,800 IT specialists
The study by ICT-Formation professionnelle Suisse predicts that the number of IT jobs in Switzerland will continue to grow in the coming years: "The increase in digitization will lead to the creation of 24,000 new ICT jobs over the next eight years. In total, 234,800 IT professionals will be employed in Switzerland in 2024. However, due to departures, particularly in retirement, the economy will have to recruit 74,700 additional professionals. Of the positions that will be partially filled by new entrants to the labor market, however, 24,800 specialists are expected to be necessary to meet the demand, according to the authors of the study. Demand by 2024 will be particularly strong for senior managers (5,100 people) and developers (4,000 people).
High density of IT jobs in Zurich
Of the total number of employees in the French-speaking cantons of Vaud, Valais and Geneva in 2015, IT jobs represent 34,900 jobs or 4.3%. This amount is 4% in the Espace Mitteland (Berne, Fribourg, Jura, Neuchâtel and Solothurn). The national average is 4.6%. With a share of 7.1%, the Zurich region has the highest density of IT employees in Switzerland.
Source: ICT Journal / January 2017 / © Netzmedien AG 2017