In Luxembourg, the number of information and communication technology (ICT) specialists grew from 7,300 (rounded) in 2004 to 20,500 in 2021, which is equivalent to 280% increase compared to a 160% increase in total national employment in the same period, data compiled from European statistics agency Eurostat and national statistics agency Statec showed.
With the introduction of new technologies and digitalisation, employment in the ICT sector has increased at a faster pace than other sectors. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD), ICT specialists are persons who have the ability to develop, operate and maintain ICT systems.
The number of ICT specialists in the European Union (EU) grew by 159% between 2004 and 2021, from 5,633,300 to 8,939,700. Of the 8.9 million ICT specialists in the EU in 2021, over a fifth (22%) were employed in Germany alone (2,007,400), followed by France (1,238,700).
In terms of the share of total employment, ICT specialists accounted for 3.1% in the EU in 2004. By 2021, the share increased to 4.5%. Sweden had the highest share of ICT specialists in employment (8.0%) in 2021, followed by Finland (7.4%) and Luxembourg and the Netherlands, both reporting 6.7%.
In terms of gender, men accounted for every four out of five (80.9%) ICT specialist jobs in 2021, compared to 19.1% for women. In 2021, Bulgaria had the highest share of women working as ICT specialists (28.1%), followed by Romania (26.0%) and Malta (25.6%), whist the lowest share was reported in the Czech Republic (10.0%), followed by Hungary (14.0%) and Slovakia (14.9%). Luxembourg had a share similar to the EU average, with men accounting for 80.3% of ICT specialist jobs in 2021.
ICT specialist jobs in general required a high level of education in addition to other technical qualifications, with nearly two-thirds (64.5%) of ICT specialists in the EU in 2021 having attained a Bachelors or higher degree. In Luxembourg, this proportion was 75.8%.
In 2021, 36.1% of the ICT specialists working in the EU were under the age of 35, marginally lower than 38.2% in 2012. In Luxembourg, 38.6% of ICT specialists were younger than 35 in 2021. Malta had the highest share of young ICT specialists (57.6%) whilst Italy had the lowest share at 27.2%.
According to Statec, information and communication enterprises in Luxembourg had difficulty filling 54% of vacancies for jobs requiring ICT specialist skills, although quite a high percentage, this marked an improvement compared to the three preceding years, during which it had been difficult to fill over 60% of available positions.
