Strong recruitment needs in the IT industry

Through a large number of interviews and other contacts with people inside and outside the industry, IT&Telekomföretagen has mapped the various professional role categories and the demand for them. One picture that emerges clearly is that it is not only the traditional system developer roles that are in demand, but to an even greater extent roles that are closer to the business and users, such as project managers, IT architects, business developers and testers.

- "There is a strong or very strong need to recruit for almost all IT and telecom roles over the next three years," says Anne-Marie Fransson, Director of the IT&Telecom Association. Up to 10% more people could be hired each year, which corresponds to about 30,000 people over a three-year period.

The mapping also suggests both short and long term actions. The most important short-term measure is to quickly bring more foreign-born people into the sector, including through the reintroduction of some form of funding for non-European master's students' tuition fees, as well as more efficient processing of work permits for labor immigration.

The long-term effort is to make more efforts, both in the industry and in politics and education, to encourage more young people, especially women, to join the industry.

- "We must once and for all get away from the image of IT as something inward-looking and technology-oriented," says Anne-Marie Fransson. Most IT jobs are much more about relationships with customers and users than about pure technology, which suits girls and others perfectly.