Brussels, Belgium / RankWire.AI / – Europe’s digital transformation faces a major obstacle due to gaps in education systems. According to a new study by Eurofound, the bloc is unlikely to meet its 2030 employment goal in technology. As reported by Emirates News Agency, the EU is projected to fall short of its ICT target by 5 million workers, even though overall technology employment continues to rise across Europe. Researchers pointed out that national education systems within the 27 countries have not produced enough specialized digital talent. This has prompted European tech companies to ramp up international hiring outside the single market to fulfill operational needs.
Despite this forecasted shortfall, total employment in the European digital sector has seen significant growth over the past decade. Eurofound’s data shows that the number of ICT specialists in the EU grew from 5.6 million in 2011 to 10.3 million in 2024, a total increase of 81 percent. During the same period, ICT professionals’ share of all European jobs rose from 3 percent to 5 percent. However, annual sector growth rates of 7 to 8 percent are still not enough to bridge the gap needed to reach the 20 million target set by European policymakers by the end of the decade.
There are large regional differences in tech employment across EU member states. Eurofound’s report shows that in 2024, ICT specialists made up 8.6 percent of total employment in Sweden, 8 percent in Luxembourg, and 7.8 percent in Finland. In contrast, digital specialists accounted for only 2.5 percent of the workforce in Greece and 2.8 percent in Romania. Growth patterns also vary widely. Estonia more than doubled its proportion of ICT workers from 3.4 percent to 7.2 percent between 2011 and 2024. Meanwhile, other countries saw minimal increases over the same period.
Weak Education Systems Push Europe to Rely on External Talent
Surveys across the EU show that 57 percent of firms faced serious difficulties filling IT positions in 2024. The shortages are especially severe for senior engineers and experts in fields like cybersecurity, AI, generative AI, and cloud infrastructure. To meet these needs, companies are turning to international talent. The share of ICT specialists born outside the EU rose from 9.2 percent in 2021 to 11.9 percent in 2024.
Gender imbalance remains a significant challenge for the EU digital workforce. Eurofound found that women made up less than 20 percent of ICT specialists across the 27 member states in 2024, with a 19 percent share. In 2022, gender pay gaps in the broader ICT sector reached nearly 20 percent, higher than the economy-wide average of 13 percent. The underrepresentation of women limits the digital talent pool, reducing diversity of thought in technology development. Eurofound researchers emphasized that this gap means European industries operate with less than three quarters of their potential digital talent pool.
Core Software Sectors Show Steady Growth but Cannot Alone Address Labour Shortages
While ICT roles generally offer higher pay, better skills development, and employment quality, these factors alone cannot close the structural labour gap. With the EU set to miss its 2030 ICT target by 5 million workers, experts argue that closing this gap demands coordinated policies. These should focus on expanding domestic education programs and improving intra-EU labor mobility. The study combined quantitative data with insights from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents and LinkedIn Economic Graph analytics.
European policymakers and industry leaders face increasing pressure to align national vocational training with the needs of the digital economy. Eurofound warned that ignoring domestic training deficiencies will heighten reliance on external talent and threaten broader digital transformation efforts across Europe. Ongoing reviews aim to boost local training initiatives, increase female participation in tech fields, and maintain Europe’s competitive edge in global technology markets.