Hiring expertise in information and communication technologies (ICT) is a challenge for businesses in the European Union (EU). During 2018, 9% of EU enterprises recruited or tried to recruit ICT specialists. More than half of these enterprises (58%) reported that they had problems filling vacancies requiring relevant ICT skills.
Among the EU Member States, enterprises in Romania found it most difficult to recruit ICT specialists. Although only 3% of Romanian enterprises recruited or tried to recruit ICT specialists during 2018, 90% of them found it hard to fill these vacancies. Recruitment of ICT specialists was challenging for enterprises also in Czechia, where 80% found it hard to fill such vacancies, as well as in Austria (74%) and Sweden (72%). In contrast, the proportion of businesses finding it difficult to recruit ICT specialists was below 40% only in Spain (27%) and Greece (38%).