IT skills shortage: one in three companies does nothing

One in three companies in Germany is doing nothing to combat the shortage of skilled workers in IT professions. This was revealed by a survey conducted by the industry association Bitkom. The remaining companies mainly rely on further training. Artificial intelligence only plays a minor role in filling vacancies. "AI cannot replace an IT department," explains Bitkom CEO Bernhard Rohleder.

Companies rely on further training and lateral entrants

While 32% of companies are not taking any measures to combat the shortage of IT specialists, 35% are training their own employees from other areas in order to qualify them for vacant positions. Just under a quarter of companies recruit lateral entrants. Furthermore, 16 percent of companies are trying to retain older employees. 13% are trying to attract women to IT professions through recruitment and support measures. On average, only five percent see artificial intelligence (AI) as a suitable means of bridging staff shortages.

Acceptance of AI as a replacement or support for human workers is higher in companies with a large number of employees: in companies with more than 250 employees, the figure is 21%. In companies with 50 to 249 employees, the figure is twelve percent, and seven percent in those with 10 to 49 employees. In smaller companies, the figure is two percent. Despite these figures, Rohleder promotes the use of AI. It could support IT specialists and take over boring and concentration-intensive tasks.

For the study, Bitkom asked 852 German companies with at least three employees what measures they are taking to counteract the shortage of IT specialists. The association publicly represents the political and economic interests of its more than 2,000 members, mainly from the IT and telecommunications sector. Bitkom recently anticipated a growing digital economy in Germany, which is expected to create 20,000 new jobs in the ICT sector.

(sfe)