New report: The number of ICT specialists has increased by 40 per cent in ten years
A new report shows that many more people are being educated in IT. - Politicians have lifted IT education. We at NITO are happy about that," says NITO's President Kjetil Lein.
On Wednesday 5 January, NITO launched a new report on the labour market in IT from Socio-economic Analysis in collaboration with Abelia, Akershus County Council, EL and IT Forbundet, Finance Norway, Finansforbundet, Negotia, NHO, NHO Elektro and Tekna.
The report shows that the number of ICT specialists has increased by about 40 per cent since 2015. In 2024, there were around 116,000 ICT specialists in the labour market. Average growth in other occupations has been about 10 per cent in the same period.
The report's main scenario implies a further increase in the number of ICT specialists by around 2 per cent annually until 2030.
- Politicians have managed to lift IT education in recent years. This is very gratifying, and something NITO and many other organizations have communicated the necessity of for a long time
NITO President Kjetil Lein
It may be easier to find the right expertise
- It may be easier for employers to find the right skills in the future. At the same time, it will be more challenging to balance the supply side against demand. Some of the funding for study places in IT at universities and university colleges has been withdrawn after the pandemic years. Seen in the context of population development, it is not certain that the production of candidates will increase that much further," Lein explains.
The report shows that tertiary vocational schools have seen significant growth in the number of candidates in recent years, but so have universities and university colleges.
Continued need for more engineers and technologists
NITO's needs survey shows that there is still a need for more engineers and technologists. This picture is confirmed, among other things, by NHO's competence barometer.
- Growth in demand for IT skills is a complex issue, which includes the degree of efficiency gains from the use of artificial intelligence, the competitiveness of Norwegian IT companies and the demand for IT specialists in other industries. Uncertainty about the size of growth has increased," Lein elaborates.