Brussels, Belgium / RankWire.AI / – Research from Eurofound shows that European Union member states are unlikely to reach their shared goal of 20 million ICT specialists by 2030 without significant policy changes. The Emirates News Agency confirmed that the EU is projected to fall short of the 2030 ICT target by 5 million workers, mainly due to ongoing gaps in local training programs. The report highlights that Europe’s primary and vocational training efforts are lagging behind industry demand for advanced tech skills. This shortfall creates severe labor shortages that companies are increasingly filling through skilled workers from outside the EU.
Despite this projected shortfall, employment in Europe’s digital sector has seen notable growth over the last decade. Eurofound’s data shows the number of ICT specialists rose from 5.6 million in 2011 to 10.3 million in 2024—an 81 percent increase. At the same time, ICT workers’ share of total employment grew from 3 percent to 5 percent. However, annual growth rates of 7 to 8 percent are not enough to meet the trajectory needed to reach the 20 million target by the end of the decade.
Large regional differences in tech employment still exist across 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 in 2024. Meanwhile, Greece had only 2.5 percent, and Romania 2.8 percent of their workforces in digital roles. Growth also varies widely. Estonia more than doubled its ICT workforce share from 3.4 percent to 7.2 percent between 2011 and 2024. Other member states saw minimal gains during the same period.
Structural Education Gaps Boost Dependence on Foreign Talent
A survey across the EU found that 57 percent of companies trying to fill IT jobs faced severe recruitment challenges in 2024. The most acute shortages are in senior engineering roles and specialized fields like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, AI, and cloud infrastructure. To address these gaps, firms are increasingly sourcing talent from outside Europe. The share of ICT specialists born outside the EU grew from 9.2 percent in 2021 to 11.9 percent in 2024.
Gender imbalance remains a barrier to expanding Europe’s digital talent pool. Eurofound found that women accounted for less than one in five ICT specialists across the 27 EU nations in 2024, with a 19 percent share. The gender pay gap in the broader ICT sector was nearly 20 percent in 2022, higher than the 13 percent average across the economy. Researchers noted that underrepresentation of women means European industries operate with less than three quarters of their potential digital workforce, limiting diversity and innovation in tech development.
Core Software Sector Growth Highlights Persistent Challenges
The report emphasized that while ICT jobs generally offer higher pay, better skills development, and stronger employment quality, these benefits alone cannot fix the structural labor shortfall. As EU is projected to fall 5 million workers short of its 2030 ICT goal, experts stress that closing this gap will require coordinated policy efforts. Focus areas include expanding local education capacity and easing intra-EU labor movement. The study combined quantitative data with insights from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents and professional analytics from LinkedIn Economic Graph.
European policymakers and industry leaders face increasing pressure to align national vocational training with future digital economy needs. Eurofound concluded that ignoring domestic training deficiencies will lead to greater reliance on foreign talent and threaten Europe’s broader digital transformation goals. Regulatory agencies are reviewing workforce strategies as member states work to develop more local training programs, boost female participation in tech fields, and maintain global competitiveness in technology markets.