Labor market for IT specialists 2023: Federal agency confirms rising unemployment, but good job opportunities for IT workers

Labor market for IT specialists 2023: Federal agency confirms rising unemployment, but good job opportunities for IT workers

According to a report by www.heise.de,

The Federal Employment Agency recently published data showing that the number of unemployed ICT specialists in Germany increased by a fifth in 2023. This reflects the increasing layoffs in the IT industry, which can also be observed in German companies. Despite the increase, the unemployment rate in the IT industry still remains low at 3.1 percent, which the Federal Employment Agency describes as practically full employment.

The absolute number of unemployed ICT specialists was an average of 33,000 in 2023. However, this proportion of the total 2.609 million unemployed is considered too small to be considered significant. Furthermore, almost 70 percent of unemployed IT workers who took up new employment in 2023 spent less than six months unemployed, which indicates good chances of finding a new job.

Despite the increase in unemployment in the IT industry, according to the Federal Employment Agency, there are many companies that complain about a shortage of skilled workers in this area. What is particularly interesting is that many IT specialists find their new jobs mainly through self-searching on the Internet or through their own contacts, while placement through the Federal Employment Agency only plays a subordinate role.

Given this data and current market trends, it is expected that layoffs in the IT industry and the increase in unemployed ICT professionals could influence labor market conditions in the future. It is also expected that competition for qualified IT specialists will increase due to the shortage of skilled workers. The trend of self-searching for jobs in the IT industry may also continue, indicating that traditional placement methods may have less impact on hiring IT professionals.