Here are the gaps

What companies want in terms of skills does not always match the interests of IT students. CS lists the job roles in demand - and which subjects are popular to study.

Over the next twelve months, the battle for system developers looks set to remain fierce among IT companies. For 63% of them, the recruitment need is greatest in this group. This is according to a survey conducted by the employers' organization IT&Telekomföretagen.

Among IT students, the proportion attracted to becoming a developer is equally high, at 63%. However, this does not cover the skills shortage in companies.

- Looking at the ranking itself, what skills employers most need and what students most want to work with, the match is quite good, with some exceptions. The concern is that the total number is too small. Students who want to become system developers, for example, are simply too few," says Fredrik von Essen, industrial policy expert at IT&Telecomföretagen.

More than half of IT students are attracted to becoming project managers, while only 36% of IT companies say they need these skills in the next year. But there is a problem here too, says von Essen.

- Many IT students have their sights set higher. That in itself is good, but it is almost a prerequisite to work for a few years as a system developer before you can become a project manager. The majority probably don't think about it, but choose not to immerse themselves in the systems because they don't want to work with it anyway.

There is also a gap between the number of companies that have a strong need to recruit IT salespeople (28%) and the proportion of IT students attracted to the profession (10%).

- There is a great need for sales skills, but rather than pure IT salespeople, you need people who know how to sell. At the same time, it is precisely those with an IT background who can best sell this type of product," explains Fredrik von Essen.

University graduates, civil engineers and people with a bachelor's or master's degree are still the most sought after by employers. Almost six out of ten companies want to hire more people with this background in the next three years.

At the same time, the proportion of companies that are willing to take on people with other qualifications is growing. One in three IT companies say that they have an increased need to recruit people with KY training over the next three years.

- KY graduates often have what academic graduates lack, both in-depth technical skills in a particular field and practical experience. For employers who, for example, want to employ pure Java developers or other technology-oriented and system-oriented skills, people with a KY education may be the best fit for the profile they are looking for.