Hhot topics
are home to very efficient
teaching methods as they
integrated computer studies
into their school curricula
since the Nokia and Ericsson
years. The two mobile phone
companies actually spirited a
whole generation to place
their trust in ICT. As for
Estonia, political decisions
taken 20 years ago turned the
country into “one of the most
advanced digital societies in
the world.” e Despite its small
size, Denmark is also very
active in ICT and has
attracted big corporate
names, such as Microsoft,
Uber, and IBM.
The Typical ICT Worker
and the Gender Gap
The overall picture of the
European ICT worker can
be summed up as follows:
A male over 35 with tertiary
education diploma. Almost
two-thirds of all people
employed as ICT specialists
in the EU are over 35 years of
e https://e-estonia.com
tions are more coherent with
their population ratios. The
number of ICT specialists
has grown over 36% in the
last 10 years,c a significant
jump from a mere 3.2% a
decade ago. This marked in-
crease helps explain why ICT
employment has resisted the
effects of the region’s overall
financial crisis.
Obviously, the raw
numbers favor the most
populated countries, but the
proportion of ICT specialists
in total employment country
by country tells a different
story, as Nordic countries
lead the way. Finland comes
first with 6.8% of its workforce dedicated to ICT.d In
comparison, Germany is
much further behind with
3.8%, and France tailing
Germany with 3.7%. The
other two leaders are Sweden
and Estonia with 6.6% and
5.6% of their respective
workforces dedicated to ICT.
Both Finland and Sweden
c http://bit.ly/2Dr16zI
d http://bit.ly/2S3Lfzo
EUROPE IS NOT a static entity but here is what it looks like in 2019: The European
Union is made up of 28
countries. The capital is
in Brussels, Belgium, and
the presidency is shared
among EU members each
semester. In 2019, the first
semester sees Romania
holding presidency until
June, then Finland until the
end of the year. An estimated
551.8 million people live in
the EU, speaking 24 official
languages. Approximately
72% of the population is
employed,a which is greater
than the pre-economic-crisis
peak of 2008. Men are more
employed than women by an
average of 11%.b
The ICT workforce in the
EU counts some 8. 4 mil-
lion people. The U.K. alone
provides almost 20% of this
workforce, although it only
accounts for 12.8% of the EU
population. The second and
third providers are Germany
and France, but the propor-
a http://bit.ly/2CGkreW
b https://bit.ly/2RYTmNI
A Demographic Snapshot
of the IT Workforce in Europe
BY LISA KORRIGANE
Workforce | DOI: 10.1145/3309915
The countries that lead the ICT
sector in Europe today are the
ones that invested a great deal
of time and resources 20 years
ago, especially in education.