Total 120,000-140,000 workers in industry specialties information and communication technologies (ICT) demand is expected until 2030. Greek economy to accelerate digital transformation, with 15,000-16,000 industry experts every year. Today, 160,000 specialists work in this sector in our country, taking into account the digital goals of the EU. and the need to transform the country, by 2030 their number is estimated at 280-300,000 people. On the other hand, the corresponding output of graduates will be formed in the near future (2023–2030) at the level of 64–68,000 or 8,000–8.5 thousand years. Based on the above, the Greek market needs another 60,000-70,000 IT professionals, or 7,000-7,500 per year, to cover the need for IT workers over an 8-year horizon.

85% of companies face difficulties in finding employees.

These findings are supported by studies carried out SEPE (Association of IT and Communication Companies of Greece) in collaboration with Deloitte, the results of which were presented as part of yesterday’s Digital Economy Forum 2022. Today, the number of scientists in the IT industry is about 160,000, of which about 100,000 are employed in ICT companies (64%). 40,000 people (23%) are employed in other sectors, while the rest were employed in the public sector (9%) and self-employed (4%).

Taking into account the digital goals of the EU. by 2030, but also the needs of the country’s digital transformation, the study shows that the number of scientists that the country will need by 2030 will be approximately 280,000–300,000 out of 160,000 today. This means that 120,000–140,000 workers will be needed by 2030. However, to date, the supply of IT graduates is limited to 64,000–68,000 (8,000–8,500 per year), creating a shortage of approximately 60,000–70,000 workers. Almost all Greek companies (85%) that participated in the study have difficulty finding employees in the ICT sector, with the majority agreeing that they do not find them due to lack of experience in specific areas of expertise in the sector (78%) . An equally important reason is the immigration of young scientists (70%), followed by the lack of professional orientation in secondary education (46%). In addition, the limited number of Greek ICT graduates in Greece (41%) is another reason for the shortage of workers in this sector. Seven out of ten companies admit that there are currently unfilled vacancies in the IT sector.

According to the study, 43% of companies rated the readiness of graduates to enter the labor market as “moderate”, indicating that currently the top three specialties in IT companies are programming, cybersecurity, and architecture. information systems, with cloud management also expected to be in demand. To fill this gap, the study proposes an increase in training programs, the involvement and use of specialists from abroad, the creation of new master’s degrees, compulsory internships for students, etc.