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By Aled Herbert, 10 August 2001 08:00

NEWS The IT industry is still facing a massive skills shortage despite the ongoing slump in the technology sector and the global economic downturn. According to research by IDC, qualified technology workers should have no problems finding work in the foreseeable future. Companies are turning increasingly to the web and to B2B solutions to streamline their operations and the European business community needs thousands of IT experts to build, design and maintain the hardware and software that wires the new economy. According to IDC, Europe currently needs an additional 200,000 workers to plug the skills gap, a figure that will rise to 550,000 by 2004. The shortfall is rising by 20,000 a year, despite increasing redundancies as companies shed more staff during the IT industry's turbulent period in history. IDC claims the majority of recent redundancies have come from non-IT sections of companies and those with tech skills who find themselves out of work are being snapped up the moment they hit the streets. Germany faces the largest shortfall in Europe, with approximately 70,000 specialised networking vacancies on offer in the country - a figure expected to rise to approximately 200,000 in 2004. Ireland also faces a difficult period, with 10,000 jobs likely to be sitting vacant in three years' time. IDC said that a large percentage of companies currently desperate for skilled IT workers are banks, industrial companies and retailers. For related news see:
Can dot-com recession therapy jump the pond?
http://www.silicon.com/a46413
Is the golden era of the IT worker over?
http://www.silicon.com/a46295
The IT skills shortage: Frustration, education and immigration
http://www.silicon.com/a39619