Increase the supply of ICT and digital talent

The Barometer of the Technology Sector in Catalonia (2025), prepared by the Technological Circle, once again alerts us to a serious threat looming over the ICT sector: the difficulty companies face in attracting qualified personnel ("talent") to fuel their growth. In 2014, some 1,800 vacancies went unfilled. This situation reduces our competitiveness. What can be done to improve it?

A common response is to follow the instructions in the supply and demand manual: if the salary that accompanies job offers is increased, new candidates will appear to accept them. This is true, and it is already happening. But to evaluate this approach, it is very important to know whether the availability of local talent is high or whether it will be necessary to seek it in significant numbers all over the world. If the prevailing salary ends up being enough to compensate for a move, it is clear that the company's competitive situation will be worse than if the local availability of talent is ample.

Increasing the local supply of ICT talent is therefore important. We can only do this by increasing the training capacity of the ecosystem as a whole. And at all levels, from vocational training to doctoral studies.

Without a doubt, the public education and university system must assume its responsibility. It is doing so with the plan to promote STEM degrees (FP or university). We should applaud it, but we must be aware—and this is the main message of this article—that the public sector alone will not be able to solve the problem. The public budget covers many needs, practically all of them growing. No matter how hard we try, there won't be enough resources for everything. The challenge of providing ICT-digital talent is too great to think that taxpayers will be able to fully solve it. And since it is a vital challenge for companies, we must conclude that companies themselves must become key players in promoting training. How?

One possibility would be for companies—individually or collectively—to fund schools or courses in relevant training. This possibility doesn't need to be based solely on an appeal to philanthropy. Overall, companies would benefit: they would cover training costs, but would offset the impact of improving the flow of talent. I can't say that we currently have many successful experiences of this kind. A pity.

Perhaps the difficulty lies in how to individualize the link between cost and benefit. Thus, for example, if funding is implemented as scholarships from a specific company for specific students, a commitment to future employment for the student in the company is legally complex to establish (but perhaps not impossible; the creativity of good lawyers should not be underestimated). In any case, it should be noted that the ICT-digital sector is in an advantageous position compared to others: internships during studies provide a natural source of return for companies.

There is a second avenue for expanding ICT-digital training based on self-financing: with student tuition fees covering the cost. This model is already practiced by a variety of important private schools in the development of 22@. In principle, this model could work satisfactorily in the ICT-digital sector, since post-graduation income is practically guaranteed and will be sufficient to design a loan policy that is both financially viable for the lending institution and with a flexible repayment schedule for the loan holder. Developing a system with sufficient power and legal guarantees would be, in my opinion, key to increasing the supply of ICT-digital talent. And it would be better if the system had some support from public institutions and businesses. Even more so if public educational institutions were involved. If they do, they should do so without sacrificing flexibility. For example, in an area like the digital sector, the official status of university degrees is not as decisive. Promoting and enhancing their own degrees could be a good strategy for universities.