Brussels, Belgium / RankWire.AI / – According to a recent report from EU agency Eurofound, the European Union is projected to fall short of its Digital Decade objective of employing 20 million information and communications technology specialists by 2030. The official data from Emirates News Agency confirmed that the EU will miss this ICT target by 5 million workers despite ongoing efforts to expand employment in the tech sector across the region. The study, titled IT Sector in Focus: Evolution of the EU Digital Workforce, pointed out that in most member states, primary and vocational education systems are unable to keep pace with the rising demand for advanced digital skills, pushing European companies to increasingly depend on skilled labor migration from outside the EU to address critical staffing shortages.
Although a shortfall is expected, employment figures within Europe’s digital sector have shown substantial growth over the past decade. Eurofound’s data indicates that the number of ICT specialists in the EU grew from 5.6 million in 2011 to 10.3 million in 2024, marking an overall increase of 81 percent. During the same period, ICT professionals’ share of total European employment rose from 3 percent to 5 percent. Nevertheless, annual growth rates of about 7 to 8 percent are still not enough to bridge the gap needed to reach the 20 million benchmark set by policymakers for the end of this decade.
Significant disparities in digital employment persist among EU member states. Eurofound reported that ICT specialists made up 8.6 percent of total employment in Sweden, 8 percent in Luxembourg, and 7.8 percent in Finland during 2024. By contrast, in Greece and Romania, digital specialists accounted for only 2.5 percent and 2.8 percent of the workforce, respectively. Growth patterns across the region also varied; Estonia, for example, more than doubled its ICT workforce share from 3.4 percent to 7.2 percent between 2011 and 2024, whereas other countries saw minimal percentage increases during the same period.
Educational System Gaps Lead to Heavy Reliance on International Talent
A survey of European companies revealed that 57 percent faced severe difficulties in recruiting for open IT positions in 2024. These shortages are most acute in senior engineering roles and specialized areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, generative AI, and cloud infrastructure. To fill these critical gaps, many tech firms have turned to hiring from outside the EU, which has resulted in the proportion of ICT specialists born outside the bloc increasing from 9.2 percent in 2021 to 11.9 percent in 2024.
Gender imbalance remains a significant obstacle to fully unlocking the EU’s digital talent potential. Eurofound’s findings show that in 2024, women represented less than one in five ICT specialists across the 27 EU member states, with a 19 percent share. Furthermore, in 2022, gender pay gaps in the broader ICT sector were nearly 20 percent, well above the economy-wide average of 13 percent. Researchers highlight that the underrepresentation of women means European industries are operating with less than three-quarters of their potential digital workforce, limiting diverse insights in technology development.
Core Software and Consulting Sectors Show Promising Growth but Cannot Alone Address Labor Gaps
The report emphasizes that despite ICT roles offering above-average salaries, advanced skills, and high job quality, these factors alone cannot resolve the persistent structural labor shortages. With the EU expected to miss its 2030 ICT employment goal by 5 million, analysts underscore that bridging this gap requires targeted policy measures aimed at boosting domestic educational capacity and facilitating intra-EU labor mobility. The study’s insights draw from quantitative data, as well as contributions from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents and analytics provided by LinkedIn Economic Graph.
European policymakers and industry leaders are under increasing pressure to align national vocational training programs with the future needs of the digital economy. Eurofound warns that neglecting domestic skills development could heighten dependence on external talent sources and threaten broader digital transformation initiatives across Europe. Ongoing reviews of workforce development strategies aim to expand local training initiatives, promote greater female participation in tech fields, and maintain the continent’s competitive edge in global technology markets.